


VALKARIE

by CassieWinchester



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Anal Sex, Angst, Bottom Dean, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Depressed Castiel, Destiel - Freeform, Emotional Comfort, Fairytale ending, Fluff and Smut, Graphic Description, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, M/M, Magic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Top Castiel, Torture, Wing Kink, it has a happy ending, seriously, some Sabriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-03-15 18:51:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 26
Words: 59,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13619520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassieWinchester/pseuds/CassieWinchester
Summary: Dean is an ordinary villager living with his brother and dad on a farm in the 16th century.  He works at the smithy and helps on the farm, and enjoys hunting Valkarie, dangerous sky creatures, as a hobby.  That is until he checks one of his traps and gets way more than he ever bargained for...





	1. Trapped

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a dream I had. The total dream was how Dean and Cass met in the first chapter. I woke up and thought, HOLY SHIT I NEED TO WRITE THIS! So almost a year later here you go LOL. It's not like my others that I PROMISE I haven't abandoned, they're just kinda at a stand still right now (so sorry about that...) this ones already finished. I'll be posting a chapter a week, sometimes two if they're short. Anyway I adore this story and I hope you do to! Oh and MANY thanks to Caffeine_Chaos243, you guys have her to thank for the completion of this story, in the midst of work, school and relationship/religion problems, she didn't let me give up on it! Many thanks to her. Anyway I'll shut up now and let you read!

Dean wiped the sweat from his eyes for what seemed like the fifth time in three minutes. The smithy had seemed especially hot today and he hadn’t been able to find the bandana he usually wore around his head to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes. He was currently working on the blade for a new plow, a rather arduous task, and it had taken him about a week to get to this point. But once he finished he could set it and his old donkey Louis to work in the fields on his dads farm; their old plow had broken last week. After about an hour and a half he finally finished the last of it, sitting back and admiring his work with a satisfied smile. 

Not the best I’ve ever done, but it’ll work. He thought, attempting to wipe some of the excess dust off of his faded green tunic. Just then the door to the smithy opened and his boss Mr. Crowley appeared. 

“You still here at this hour?” He spoke in a heavy Scottish accent. 

“It’s only 8 sir; not terribly late.”

“It’s late for me.” He replied, glancing around the room, probably looking for anything that was out of place. Mr. Crowley had emigrated from Scotland a few years back and truthfully, Dean could barely stand the man. He didn’t know how he landed the position as top smithy in town. (He had a hunch that it was just because of his accent) He was always eager to boss people around and get after you if you forgot to leave things EXACTLY the way that he liked it, but he would hardly get his own precious hands dirty.

“I just wanted to quickly finish this.” Dean explained, motioning to the plow. “I’m going to be heading home now. He shrugged his gloves and apron off and gathered his things. 

“You do know that you’re absolutely filthy don’t you?” Crowley spoke, giving him a once over and a disapproving frown.

Yea, that’s kind of what happens when you’re in this line of work; sometimes you get dirty your highness. Dean thought as he rolled his eyes behind his boss’s back. Distant thunder rumbled across the sky as he finished. “Yup, well I’ve gotta get old Louis home before this storm breaks. She’s jumpy enough under clear skies.” 

“Alright, I’ll see you in two days then.” Crowley called as Dean strode out the door, eager to get away from the man. 

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say he was in love with me.” He whispered to Louis as he fastened his pack to the old donkeys back. She shook her head in response, snorting nervously. “Scary, I know.” He chuckled. “He’s waay too old for me; then there’s the problem of him being the drama queen of his imagined fortress.” The clouds had turned twilight into night, looming ever closer on the horizon, and his family’s farm lay about 3 miles outside of town. Another roll of thunder sounded and Louis brayed, skipping on her feet a bit. 

“Alright alright, let’s get you home then if you’re so eager.” He told the donkey, leading her down the darkening road towards home. 

Not two minutes after he arrived and put Louis in the barn the storm broke, dumping buckets of rain on the earth with brute force. He set up the old donkey for the night and ran to the house as fast as he could. Even though he had only been out in the rain for 30 seconds tops he still found himself soaked from head to toe by the time he got in the door.

“There you are, I was starting to wonder if you were ever coming home.” His little brother Sam spoke from a seat by the fireplace, brushing his shoulder length brown hair out of the way. You wouldn’t guess that he was 4 years younger, being almost taller than Dean. 

“Sorry bout that Sammy, I needed to finish the plow tonight though.” He apologized, shrugging out of his coat and boots and going over to the fire to warm himself. 

“I finished something as well, look.” Sammy stated proudly, handing Dean a hunk of wood shaped like a mountain goat; its head was low, lunging forward to butt an invisible something, and the detail was incredible.

“It’s amazing, you really need to start selling these, people would pay good money for something like this.” Dean exclaimed honestly, handing the goat back to his brother with a proud smile.

“Yea, that’s how you can pay me back for all the firewood you use.” A gruff voice spoke as John, a well built man with dark brownish black hair came into the room. Sam looked down at the ground like he was ashamed. “C’mon sport, I’m just kidding, they’re beautiful.” He laughed, walking over and tousling the young boys hair playfully. Sam beamed with pride. 

“Did you get the plow done tonight like I asked son?” John asked, looking from Sam to Dean, his soft smile dissapearing. 

“Yes sir, done and ready for work.” Dean nodded, tousling his own hair a bit and making water droplets fly everywhere.

“Good, you can get started on that as soon as the storm clears up. It looks like it’s fixin to be quite a bad one though; we might have our work cut out for us cleaning up tomorrow.” John added as another crack of thunder rattled the thin window panes.

“Yes sir, is it alright if I check my traps first thing in the morning though; I haven’t for a few days and I’m sure the storm is going to do a number on them.” Dean asked.

“We’ll decide in the morning, I’m heading to bed now.” John spoke. 

Dean sighed a bit but hid his annoyance. He was eager to go check them, he had been getting this feeling lately that something amazing was about to happen to him, and the only thing he could think of that would make him excited was catching another Valkarie and hanging another set of wings up by the ones he already had in his room. 

He went to get ready for bed and paused by where they were stuffed and hung on the wall; flaming red one’s he had gotten off a female with a bad temper a few years ago. He stroked the soft, strong feathers, admiring how beautiful they were. He had been the youngest in the village to ever catch a Valkarie, and ever since he had been working hard to catch an even more impressive set of wings.

Capturing Valkarie was the only hobby really worth doing in the small village in Deans opinion; the thrill he had gotten while wrestling with the last one he had caught was pretty intense. Valkarie were winged sky creatures that resembled humans, except for the talons on the three middle fingers, fangs, and the fact that they had wings of course. Despite their close resemblance to humans the people of the village referred to them as animals, varmints more like, for lately they had begun making a nuisance of themselves by stealing livestock. The hobby of Valkarie hunting had gone up significantly after that had started. He had found that setting traps up in the tops of trees was the best way to catch the things.

They often gathered eggs from birds’ nests, so Dean had found that was the best spot for a trap. Working much like a Venus fly trap, it was set around the birds nest, and when the thing landed to get it’s spoils, the chained netting would snap up and around them, locking their wings against their bodies and rendering them useless. They had started to use chain instead of rope about a year ago, owing to the fact that the Valkaries had been chewing and cutting through the rope to escape. 

Climbing into bed he closed his eyes and sighed contentedly, letting the roar of the wind and rain slapping against his window calm relax his aching muscles. It didn’t take long for sleep to overtake his senses, and his last thought was of the set of wings that he’d always wanted to have, gigantic, majestic, easily twice as long as him; and black as midnight.

***

The next morning, after finishing his morning chores and fighting off an eager Sam that wanted to come with him, he headed out to check the traps. It wasn’t that he didn’t want his younger brother tagging along. Just as his dad has predicted, the storm had made quite a mess of the farm, and he felt that he would be a better help here, cleaning with his dad. 

“I’ll be back in about an hour to help more.” Dean told his dad as he was walking out the door. He wore a brown tunic that hung down to his thighs with darker brown pants disappearing into his boots. A long sleeve white shirt stuck out from the short sleeves of the tunic, tucked into the belt he wore on each wrist to hold two small knives.

“Okay, just hurry; there’s lot of work to be done today.” He heard his dad call back; he acknowledged it with a wave of his hand. Whistling to himself he headed up the mountain, picking a path through the mist. It was a wet misty morning, more humid than usual thanks to last night’s freak rainstorm. It was overcast and the clouds hung low to the ground up the mountain, making it even harder to see. Dean cursed as his booted foot slipped and sunk halfway up his thigh in a particularly muddy spot. Luckily he had worn his knee high boots that he usually reserved for shoveling cow manure and they protected his legs from the muck quite nicely. Yanking his foot out of the mud with a sickening slurp, he continued to where he had planted his first trap. 

Just as he thought, the first two he found were in shreds, both had been set in the tops of trees with multiple kinds of bird nests in them. The chains had been tossed down to the ground, with some of them wound hopelessly around the branches and trunk. 

After gathering up the ruined traps (unfortunately he had to leave a bit of one of them that had all but molded itself to the tree) he threw the chains around his shoulders and started out for his last one. The first clue he found that the trap may not be empty was all the feathers. Big, blackish blue feathers littered the ground around the base of the tree, way too big to be from a regular bird. Dropping the chains, he quickly slipped one of his knives out of his wrist belt, in full caution mode. He didn’t have to look far to find it.

The first thing he noticed was the wings. Just like the ones of his dreams, they were hopelessly tangled in the chains, the left one was stretched out at a weird angle, there was a good chance it was broken, the other still pressed flat against the creatures body like the trap was supposed to work. It had somehow unhinged the trap, but it had backfired horribly. It looked like the Valkarie had fallen halfway out of the tree before the chains had caught again, suspending it in mid air, and there it hung, swaying gently. Looking closer, he saw that its eyes were closed. The closer he got the more gruesome it became. It looked like the thing had been struggling most of the night, and Dean wondered if it had gotten caught before the storm had started. 

He wasn’t prepared for the pang of horror and guilt that flashed through him as he stood looking up at the poor creature, but then reprimanded himself for feeling bad for it. This wasn’t a human, it was a vicious animal; it might have been the one that had stolen three of their pigs for all he knew. They were vermin and sympathy was the last thing he should be feeling for the thing. Nevertheless he felt horrible.

The chains that held him, it, not him, he corrected himself in his mind; that held IT up had rubbed the skin raw, and dark blood stained the metal where it cut into flesh. Putting the knife between his teeth, Dean climbed up to the left wing that was broken and twisted. Twigs and leaves were tangled in the feathers, and some had all but rubbed off, leaving gaping wounds for the chains to dig further into. He tried to be just disappointed that such wonderful wings were ruined, as they wouldn’t look as good to display, but all he felt was despair and again, sticky clingy guilt for what he had done. Without thinking much about it he reached out to touch the oily black feathers. Water droplets decorated them, gathering in tiny jewels on the slick membranes. 

Then without warning there was an inhuman shriek and the broken wing lashed out, smacking into him and making him lose his grip on the tree. The knife went flying as he fell back, and he just managed to catch onto another branch with his right arm. That was when he found himself eye to eye with his victim. Slitted cat eyes glared at him, not inches away from his own bright green ones. Those eyes, the color of the clear blue summer sky shone with a rage Dean had never experienced before; they terrified and excited him all in one. Somehow the thing got its bloodied torn hand around Deans throat and, showing its fangs squeezed with all its might. Dean felt the taloned fingers digging into the back of his neck. He had a passing thought that he might have just made the last mistake of his life and the last thing he was ever going to see is these furiously blue eyes glaring at him in hatred. He faintly remembered that he kept an extra knife in his right boot and strained to reach down to grab it as little black dots popped up all over his vision, rapidly blocking out the world around him…

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150869015@N08/26579285548/in/dateposted-public/)

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150869015@N08/25991984227/in/dateposted-public/)


	2. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, I can hide you; I know a place.” Dean whispered. Feathers scoffed.  
> “By hide do you mean kill?” Dean rolled his eyes; man this guy was an ass.  
> “No, I mean hide. Look, we don’t have time, you’re just gonna have to trust me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who couldn't wait till Monday to post the next chapter, ME! This is arguably my favorite chapter in the whole thing, so I hope you enjoy!

Deans fingers closed around the hilt of his knife and he ripped it free from the sheath, frantically slashing at the creature’s arm as his vision disappeared. Shrieking in pain, the blue eyed Valkarie released him, and he fell heavily in the mud beneath the tree. He just lay there for a minute, coughing air back into his lungs and staring at the creature above him; now struggling with all its might. Sitting up he felt the back of his neck, and his hand came away covered in blood. The thing had almost skewered his neck, and he realized at that moment how much danger he had actually been in. It could have killed him, or worse, paralyzed him.

He wrapped a piece of cloth around his neck to stop the bleeding and stood up, wincing from the pain in his back. Little drops of water mixed with blood were raining down on him, and it was only then he noticed that one of the chains had found its way around the creature’s neck; the harder it struggled, the tighter the chain was getting. 

“Hey, stop, you’re just making it worse.” He called out before he could stop himself. 

The Valkarie either didn’t hear or didn’t understand; actually it probably just didn’t care, because it just struggled harder. Carefully Dean climbed up next to it again, making sure to keep out of reach of those two inch long talons. The whole time he could feel those eyes boring into him, watching his every move. He got above the Valkarie and started working to get the poor thing out of the tree before he could strangle himself. 

IT; strangle ITSELF, he corrected himself once again. After a few minutes Dean started to seriously worry that he wouldn’t get the creature down in time. Even though it had stopped struggling mostly it was now gasping for air, trying to clutch at the noose around its neck, but the chains wouldn’t allow its hands to reach. 

“C’mon dammit,” he muttered to the chains, feeling more and more like this was a rescue mission and not a hunting trip. His heart broke when a small keening noise reached his ears. It was a broken pathetic sound, and it shattered his heart. Finally, he was able to loosen the chains and all at once he was trying to hold the full weight of the Valkarie in his hands. Of course he failed, the chain slipped through his hands painfully and the winged creature fell the rest of the way to the ground, landing hard on its left wing. A strangled cry escaped the Valkaries lips as it rolled onto its side, coughing and whimpering in pain. 

Dean climbed down as fast as he could. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He found himself muttering as he knelt beside the quivering figure. “I’m going to help you okay?” He spoke, not even sure if the thing could understand what he was saying. Those impossibly blue eyes, now bright with unshed tears, were boring into him again; only this time all he saw in them was pain and fear. He reached out to start untangling the creature, and as soon as his hand made contact the Valkarie shoved itself away from his touch, letting out a string of words that Dean didn’t recognize; but it sounded a lot like it could be another language. 

“Wait, you talk?” he exclaimed in surprise. He had been taught all his life that these things were just animals, but that sounded like perfectly formed syllables to him, just in a language he wasn’t familiar with. The creature was staring again, his gaze settling on Deans face. 

“Please, let me help you,” Dean spoke slowly, scooting over to the creature once more. He cautiously reached out again as his heart hammered in his chest. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as the creature allowed Dean’s fingers to touch its side, although it shivered like a leaf and squeezed its eyes shut. 

“Hey, you’re fine. I’m not gonna hurt ya, promise,” Dean muttered reassuringly as he untangled the chains. Yea you already did that genius! he thought in disgust. He couldn’t help but notice how fit this creature was; for something that flew everywhere the Valkarie wasn’t flabby at all. The skin was bare save for what looked suspiciously like a bear skin tied around its waist. He noticed the area where its wings melded into the upper half of its back was covered in soft black downy fuzz, and he had to resist the urge to stroke the feathers. There was some sort of tattoo that ran all the way from the left bicep to the thigh. When Deans fingers reached the wings the creature freaked out once more, shoving him back and yelling “Drouxmed, Gonvon Malsged!” Dean sat back, holding his hands up in surrender.  
“I don’t understand bird talk, okay!?” he exclaimed with a frustrated sigh. They both glared at each other for a few seconds, not blinking, and then the man motioned to his tangled arms.

“First.” he growled.

“No way, you’ll just finish strangling me if I-“ Dean stopped, realizing he had understood. His eyes widened as he stared into the blue eyes. “You speak English then?” The man just fixed him with his icy stare.

“FIRST,” he demanded. 

I’m gonna regret this. Dean thought as he freed one of the guys arms. As soon as it was free the man shoved him back and started freeing himself on his own. He just didn’t like me touching him, the little shit. He realized in annoyance.

“What, you don’t want human cooties, is that it Feathers?” he said, smiling a bit at the nickname. Feathers shot daggers at him and Dean wondered how much of that he understood.

“Famvan gisggontal van gon paunna gisgmed dongraphvon gonmed DRUX.” 

Dean laughed, although he wasn’t sure why. The disgusted tone in the man’s voice just struck him as funny. His laughter didn’t last long as Feathers turned to untangle his left wing and let out a strangled gasp, biting his lip so hard it started to bleed. His right wing was free now, and was draped around him and over the muddy ground like a beautiful silky cloak, only a few twigs and leaves were stuck in it, otherwise it looked flawless. He noticed he kept it hovering just above the ground, as to not get it muddy. He was hyper aware of what his dad would do in this type of situation. Jump the guy and slit his throat to take those marvelous wings. One less varmint to worry about. Just then he noticed that Feathers wasn’t moving anymore; he just sat there staring at his injured wing in horror. Taking a steady breath, Dean stood up and walked over to him. He saw what the guy was worried about immediately. On the middle part of the wing, the radius bone looked like it had been snapped right in half. The rest of the wing below that was twisted downwards and mostly backwards. You could actually see a small part of the radius bone sticking out, and a steady stream of blood was flowing from the wound. 

Dean faintly wondered why he hadn’t noticed such a serious injury when he had been in the tree, then realized that he probably had done it when he fell on the wing. There wasn’t a lot of blood coming out, but it was steady and he had lost quite a bit already. 

“Okay feathers, just keep calm.” He muttered, seeing the look of frenzied doom in the Valkarie’s blue eyes. Dean knelt down beside the wing and glanced at the guys face for some sort of permission. All he got was a blank stare. “Please don’t kill me.” He muttered, ripping his tunic to make a bandage. 

How do I wrap this? He thought nervously. He had handled a compound fracture before when his little brother had fallen out of a tree (He made a mental note to stay away from trees from now on) but a wing bone was a lot different than an elbow. As gently as he could he lifted the wing, which was a lot heavier than he thought, so he could slip the bandage underneath. That seemed to snap his fine feathered friend out of whatever shock he had been in. 

“FAMALS!” He yelled, jumping to his feet and dragging the injured wing with him. His face was scrunched up in agony, but he stumbled away nevertheless, his wounded wing dragging through the mud. Dean winced as mud got in the wound and it started bleeding worse.  
“C’mon bud, if I were going to hurt you, don’t you think I would’ve done it already?” Dean sighed in exasperation. Feathers stumbled awkwardly, obviously trying to figure out what to do with his mangled wing. His face shone an ashy white in contrast to his electric blue eyes, which were dilated in shock. 

“Now or never.” Dean sighed; checking to make sure his knife was safely tucked back into its place, just in case. It had started to rain again, pretty hard, turning the ground even more slippery; but it would be to their advantage so he could wash the wound properly. He stood and gathered some bark to make a makeshift splint, and then approached the Valkarie, who was trying to pick up his wing unsuccessfully. He kept slipping in the mud and steadying himself with his right wing, which Dean noticed was excellent at repelling water. 

“Stop.” Dean commanded gently, and risked a hand on the guy’s arm. He didn’t think he could understand him, but he had said the word ‘first’. Maybe he knew some other simple words. The Valkarie looked up at him, his face smudged with rain and mud; they both were by this time. Now that he had his attention, Dean held up the bark and bandage, trying to ignore the fact that every second he let that wound bleed was a second off of the creature’s life in front of him. He motioned back and forth from the splint to the wing. “Help.” 

Feathers looked at him, then his wing then at the ground, seeming to be indecisive. Finally he sat down with a resigned sigh, his midnight black hair sticking to his forhead, and spoke in a thick accent. “I know you’re help.” Thanking whatever Gods existed, Dean knelt next to the wound and tied the bandage around the wing. He pressed gently, but the whole wing twitched and Feathers squeezed his eyes shut again, biting back a moan of pain. Dean then set it with his homemade splint. Not the best, but it would have to do for now.

The whole time Feathers watched him cautiously, every muscle in his body tense, ready to spring should the need arise. Dean finished tightening the splint, earning him an angry hiss. “Alright, not bad,” he spoke, mostly to himself. “I think you’ll live.” He looked up from examining his handy work and his breath caught in his throat. Somewhere along the line Feathers had scooted closer to him, and those untamed eyes were mere inches from his face. He felt rising heat in his cheeks and quickly leaned back.

“Uh, you should be fine, but you won’t be able to fly again for awhile.” He didn’t know why he was explaining any of this to him when he didn’t know how much the Valkarie could understand. In one swift move Feathers rose to his feet, quite gracefully despite his wounds and the slippery ground, and started to walk away, picking a path through the undergrowth. And heaven help him, Dean followed. 

“Hey wait, did you even hear what I said?” he called, jogging to catch up with the winged man. He was surprisingly nimble and disappearing fast. You would think those huge wings would weigh him down a bit. “Do you need any help? I’m sure it’ll be hard to raid bird nests when you can’t fly.” 

What are you doing? He thought to himself. Was he doing this out of pity, or trying to atone for being the one who had done this to the guy? Whatever it was, it wasn’t because he found those eyes and the way this guy moved to damn hypnotizing to leave him alone. He finally caught up, stepping beside Feathers to walk at his side. As far as he could tell, he was invisible to the guy. What Dean was not doing was staring at that sharp, set jaw; or his bulging biceps; and most definitely was not admiring the way he was gracefully holding those massive wings against his back and off of the ground, although he noticed that the broken one hung a bit lower. He briefly wondered how much pain Feathers was hiding.

“Here, let me at least get all this shit out of your wing for you.” Dean said as he tried reaching for the broken wing. The next thing he knew he was being thrown against a tree, his head colliding with the bark painfully. The back of Feather’s wing had hit him full force in the stomach, completely knocking the breath out of him. Then those talons were around his neck again, the Valkarie glaring down on top of him with wild dark hair sticking out every which way. Dean couldn’t help but think he looked almost like a wrathful God.

“You touch me again, l kill you.” The Valkarie hissed in a heavy accent. “I spare your life once, I will not again.” 

“Uh, technically your touching me; does that count?” Dean wheezed, half smiling up at him even though he was so terrified he thought he might have pissed himself a bit. Feathers let go of him roughly and then turned to leave. After a few steps he stopped and looked back.

“And we do not only eat bird Graphged; I do not need your help finding food.” 

Wow, this guy knows more English than I thought! Dean realized, rubbing at his sore neck. Just then Feathers stiffened and fumbled for something at his side, but whatever it was he was looking for was gone. Then Dean heard voices, and they sounded like they were pretty close. 

“Faag.” Feathers hissed when he didn’t find what he was looking for. Dean had a feeling that if he didn’t do something quick, a lot of people were going to get hurt, and one Valkarie would probably be killed. He jumped up and ran over to Feathers, barley remembering not to touch him.

“Hey, I can hide you; I know a place.” Dean whispered. Feathers scoffed. 

“By hide do you mean kill?” Dean rolled his eyes; man this guy was an ass.

“No, I mean hide. Look, we don’t have time, you’re just gonna have to trust me.” The voices were dangerously close now, and Dean saw the man’s stone like mask break for a second in indecision. Then he nodded and motioned Dean to lead the way. Man, I can’t believe he’s actually trusting me. Dean thought as he headed into the undergrowth, Feathers following close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some translation of what Cass says if you're curious. And the Enochian in the story is very VERY loosley based off the real thing, as in I changed it a lot to make it sound pretty, so don't go by what I have here if you really want to learn the language.  
> “Drouxmed, Gonvon Malsged!” = "Don't you touch me, you pig!"  
> “Famvan gisggontal van gon paunna gisgmed dongraphvon gonmed DRUX.” = "Seven times must I wash myself to rid myself of your STINK." (my personal favorite)  
> “FAMALS!” = "STOP!"  
> Faag = well, does this really need an explanation. XD  
> Please review, Thank You!


	3. Behind the Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If I’m going to be staying here, I shall require it to be drier.” He stated. Dean looked at him with a half smile.
> 
> “Are you asking for me to come back?” Cass rolled his eyes. 
> 
> “You will need to return to bring dry bedding and clothes, yes.” He felt the sudden urge to wipe that smirk off of Dean’s face; a human wasn’t supposed to be that attractive. He looked anywhere but at Dean, trying to hide his emotions. Six weeks of this…he wasn’t sure he could last that long without murdering his rescuer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is quite a bit longer than usual, so your welcome. :)

_The night before…._

Castiel heaved a sigh of annoyance as he yanked yet another stubborn weed out of the ground, dumping it in the pile that had been accumulating beside him in the grass. 

 _How is it always me that ends up doing the most menial chores?_ He thought as he yanked a particularly deep rooted dandelion out, all but shredding his hand.  Deciding that he had done enough, he gathered the pile of weeds and walked to the edge of the floating island where he lived, dumping the pile over the edge. 

“All done Cassie?”  A chipper voice sounded from behind him.  It was his brother Gabriel.  Bright whiskey colored eyes, flaming auburn hair and wings to match; he was a year younger than Castiel.

“How many times must I tell you not to call me Cassie?”  He replied, walking to their fish pond and crouching to wash his hands off in the cool water. 

“C’mon; you like it and you know it.”  Gabriel smirked.  “What are you up to tonight?  Wanna go to the main island with me?” 

“Nah, I don’t really feel like socializing.”  Cass replied, still digging the dirt out from under his talons.

“You _never_ feel like socializing; c’mon it’ll be good for you.”  Gabe whined, folding his arms stubbornly across his chest.

“I think I’m going to go grab something to eat and head to bed, I’m pretty tired.”  Cass stated with finality.

At that Gabe sighed in defeat.  “One of these days I’ll get you to go to a party and you’ll meet a pretty girl, fall in love, and live happily ever after.  Then, when you’re old and decrepit and your children are cleaning up your shit for you you’ll have me to thank for it!”

Castiel chuckled at that, shaking water off his hands and standing up.  “Whatever you have to tell yourself brother.” 

“You know a storm is coming in, don’t you?”  Gabe spoke.

“I’ll be gone half an hour tops, it’ll be fine.”  Cass replied, glancing at the distant figure of black clouds on the horizon.  “Even if it gets here before I get back, I’ve flown in plenty of storms; I’m not too worried about it.” 

“That attitude will be your downfall you know.”  Gabe said, shaking his head.

“That’s what you keep saying, but I’m still here aren’t I?”  Cass pointed out with a smile.

“Alright alright I get it, I can’t stop you; be safe and I’ll see you later tonight brother.”  Gabe affectionately patted the side of Cass’s head and took off, flying towards the main island.  Eager to get in the air and hungry for some eggs, Castiel spread his wings and shot into the air, inhaling the cool summer mountain air appreciatively and smiling softly.  He dove through a thin sheet of cloud and leveled off below it, rustling his wings a bit to get rid of the water droplets that had formed on his feathers.

After about twenty minutes he found what he was looking for; three eggs nestled in an eagle’s nest on top of a tall oak tree, just waiting for him.  He had a passing thought as he flew down to the tree that maybe he should make sure the nest wasn’t loaded with a trap from the humans, but he had never found one before and he was hungry.  So when he landed on the nest and a bunch of chained netting flew up to grab him, he was totally caught off guard. He didn’t even have time to spread his wings before they were tightly locked against his body, his whole being wrapped up like a mummy. 

“FAAG.”  He yelled, panic gripping him even tighter than the chains binding him.  No, this couldn’t happen to him; not _him_.  This sort of stuff only happened to Valkarie that he didn’t know.  Stories he’d hear back home from Gabriel or Lucifer.  _“Did you hear, another poor bastard got caught in one of the mud monkey’s traps; yea they cut off their wings before killing them, such a tragedy…”_

Castiels mind went into full panic mode and he struggled with all his might, but to no avail; the chains were tightly secured around him.  Just then he heard the rumble of thunder, and looked to see enormous brownish black clouds looming ever closer to where he was; only then did he realize that he might be in more immediate danger than he thought.  He was a sitting duck up here for lightening, not to mention at the mercy of the wind and rain. 

 _Maybe I can use it to my advantage_.  He thought, his heart hammering in his chest.  Maybe the wind would blow him out of the tree and he could untangle himself; maybe.  All he knew was that he needed to get out of this trap as soon as possible.  In another 10 minutes the storm was on top of him, the wind whipping the tree from side to side violently.  Everything was close to pitch black but for when a flash of lightening would light up the sky, letting out a deafening explosion of sound that made him flinch.

Then the rain came, hitting against him like bullets and making it almost hard to breathe.  _Dammitt._   He thought, still struggling to get a wing or an arm free of his bindings.  He was growing steadily weaker, and he started to think maybe he would die from exposure before the night was through.  He tried to reach out with his mind to one of his brothers, as Valkarie from the same family could do, but he was too far away for anyone to hear his pleas. 

After what seemed like an eternity of struggling, a gust of wind slapped into him as he twisted his left wing a certain way, and the trap came unhinged, dumping him out of the top of the tree, still mostly bound.  He thought his left wing was totally free and instinctively tried beating it as he fell, but the chains got tangled in the branches and one wrapped around the middle part of his wing, twisting it painfully as the rest of the trap caught him in midair halfway down the tree. 

He cried out in pain and anger, infuriated by his situation.  At least he wasn’t getting hit head on by the rain and wind anymore, but the tree was still pitching violently, swinging him along with it and making the chains dig further into his skin.  His left wing hurt like Hell, and he was so cold, shivering uncontrollably.  He was tired beyond belief, but primal instinct kept him fighting until he blacked out from stress and utter exhaustion.

***

_Present moment…._

_What are you doing Castiel, you idiot?_ He asked himself as he followed the human through the woods.  Did he trust him; no way; but he really didn’t have any other choice right now.  He studied the human in front of him as they walked, trying to ignore the fact that he thought he was downright beautiful.  Well built but still slender, he made the simple old clothes he wore look brand new.  And those bow legs weren’t doing anything to lessen his attraction.

  He was odd as far as humans go, that was for sure.  For example he’d never met a human that would free a Valkarie from a trap and bandage up there wing for them.  He had understood what the man had said about helping him, it was just considered bad luck to let a human touch you.  And allowing him to touch his wings had been completely unacceptable.  A Valkaries wings were there pride and joy, and none other than their mate or a family member should be allowed to touch your feathers.  He shivered involuntarily as he recalled the humans touch.  His hands had been so warm and gentle, and he was ashamed to think that he had enjoyed it at all, but he had.  And those damn eyes of his, the color of deep rich grass, the kind that made you want to snuggle up in and take a nap in.  Yes, a very odd human in deed.  After about a ten minute walk which was spent in silence, they reached what could only be their destination. 

“Here we are!”  The human announced in his ugly language, motioning to a medium sized waterfall that ran off into a bubbling river.  He recalled to mind what he had learned of the English language, having almost finished his studies on the subject. 

“I fail to see how a waterfall would be better coverage than the forest itself.”  He was quite proud of his fluency, making even an extremely ugly language sound appealing. 

“Hey, don’t be so quick to judge Feathers.  It’s what’s on the inside that counts.”  Dean commented, wagging a finger at Cass and giving him a scolding look.  Cass replied with a confused tilt of the head. 

 _Maybe I overestimated him, there’s nothing inside water but..water._ He thought to himself as he followed the human down a little bluff and right to the side of the rapidly falling water.  There was a tiny cliff that led behind the waterfall, invisible from the outside.  Droplets sprayed onto his wings and he annoyingly shook them off, rustling his feathers slightly.  Just as he was starting to think maybe he should leave and take his chances on his own, they entered a cave hidden behind the waterfall.  It was small and damp, but he had to admit it was an impressive find. 

“Tah-dah!”  the human exclaimed, whatever that meant.  He looked quite pleased with himself though.  Cass looked around with squinted eyes, rustling his wings once more to get the last of the condensation off of them.  He turned to find those impossibly green eyes staring at him, more so studying him, and he somehow felt exposed and vulnerable under their gaze.  After a minute or so of tense staring on both parts, the human cleared his throat. 

“So uh, my name is Dean by the way.”  The human introduced, running a hand through his slightly wet hair and making it even more spiked.  Castiel cursed himself for the fluttering feeling in his stomach. 

“Dean.”  Cass spoke, trying out the name, another silence. 

“You gonna tell me yours or should I just keep calling you feathers?”

“My name is Castiel.”  Dean nodded, looking impressed. 

“Castiel; sweet name.”  Cass shook his head. 

“No, it is not sweet at all, it’s just a name.”  He walked to a fairly dry looking patch of ground and sat.  He refused to show it but he was hurting and exhausted from struggling all night.  Dean was chuckling, but he didn’t see anything that was funny.

“If I’m going to be staying here, I shall require it to be drier.”  He stated.  Dean looked at him with a half smile.

“Are you asking for me to come back?”  Cass rolled his eyes. 

“You will need to return to bring dry bedding and clothes, yes.”  He felt the sudden urge to wipe that smirk off of Dean’s face; a human wasn’t supposed to be that attractive.  He looked anywhere but at Dean, trying to hide his emotions.  Six weeks of this…he wasn’t sure he could last that long without murdering his rescuer.

***

Over the next week or so Cass refused to have anything to do with Dean.  He brought bedding and clothes the next day as he said he would, and he took them without a word; despite the fact that the human would not give up trying to get him to talk.

               “Here, I managed to get some eagle eggs for ya; noticed that was the kind you were going for that night.”  Dean greeted the seventh day Cass had been staying in the cave.  He had been doing a few stretches and exercises to keep up with his training despite being in such a confined space.  He pretended not to hear, as usual.  About 8 minutes later he checked out of the corner of his eye to see if Dean was still there.  Up till now he found that if he just completely ignored the human he would leave after about 10 minutes.  Not this time; he sat on a rock near the entrance to the cave, just watching, humming to himself. 

“So are you doing some sort of martial arts, is that what this is?”  Dean asked after about 15 minutes.

Silence.

“Helloooo, Castiel?”

 Silence. 

“Feathers?”  Cass growled a bit at the rude nickname, but still said nothing.

“Did you forget English or go deaf or something?  C’mon, I’m practically risking my skin here for you and you won’t even look at me, let alone talk to me; kinda rude, don’t you think?”  Dean spoke, sounding crestfallen. 

Truth be told, he wasn’t ignoring him because he was repulsed like he was supposed to be.  It was more of the fact that he wasn’t, and it frightened him.  Humans were scum, on the level of animals; but he found Dean to be different.  And not just because he had saved his life and was harboring him now like a fugitive.  There was something else; something he couldn’t quite explain.  He got flustered whenever he got close to the guy and felt shy and somehow vulnerable under that emerald green gaze.  Castiel had never been in love before, but this seemed suspiciously close to what he’d heard about it.  If that were really the case he probably just needed to kill him and take his chances alone, because there was nothing worse he could think of then falling in love with a human.  Finally Dean sighed and stood to leave.

“Alright well if you’re not gonna talk then I’ll just have to go get my friends I guess.”  He called as an afterthought, walking towards the Cliffside.  Panic flared Cass’s his chest and he closed the gap between them in record time, slamming Dean against the rock wall with a snarl.  “Okay, okay, bad joke; I’m sorry!”  Dean gasped, throwing up his hands in surrender.  “It wasn’t supposed to make you this mad, just…sorry!”  Castiel let go of where he had been clutching Deans shirt.

“There is nothing to say.”  He stated, returning to the other side of the cave. 

“There’s plenty of things to say!”  Dean spoke triumphantly.  Cass glared at him.

“Med Na Don?”  (Oh really, like what?)

“Uh..didn’t understand that, but let me give you some conversation starters okay?”  Silence.  Dean walked over and sat on one of the blankets he had spread out over the floor of the cave, propping himself up against the wall of the cave.  “Like, what’s your favorite food to eat?”  He offered.

Cass stood there, eyes squinted in suspicion.  “Why do you want to know?”

“So I can get to know you more, why else do you think?  Here, I’ll go first.  My favorite is a nice big slab of beef with minced onions and potatoes smothered in garlic.” 

Cass realized that this guy wasn’t going to give up, and he was starting to go crazy sitting here all alone anyway, so why not humor him a bit. He hesitantly sat cross legged on the blanket in front of Dean.  “Salmon.”  He stated.  “And corn.” 

“You guys grow corn?”  Dean asked in surprise.

“If we didn’t do you think it would be a favorite of mine?”  Cass retorted. 

Dean chuckled.  “You know, you sure speak a lot more English than I thought; I didn’t even know you could speak truthfully.”

“Everyone learns the basics of the english language back home.  I took a few more class’s than was normal however, so I’m much more fluent than others.”

“Why?”  Dean asked curiously.

Cass hesitated before he answered.  “I find humans…intriguing.” 

Deans laughter doubled him over.  “Well I find you pretty interesting myself.  What do they tell you about us where you come from?”

His tone was light, but Cass’s answer was far from it.  “You murder my people for sport, for trophies; you hold contests to see who can kill the Valkarie with the largest wings and then you hang them in your homes.  You are heartless barbarians; monsters more like.”  He spat the last of it, his voice cracking a bit as he let slip the last part.  “Your kind killed my parents.”  He turned his head, furious at himself for letting himself get emotional.  There was a tense silence before Dean replied.

“Cass, I’m so sorry.”  Dean said softly.  “Maybe there’s more truth to what you’re saying than I thought.”  He sighed, and Cass turned back to him, surprised to see tears in his eyes as well.  “Not all of us are like that though.” 

“Let me take a guess, you’re not like that.”  Cass scoffed.  Dean looked down at his hands.

“Yea, I don’t blame you for not believing me; but let me ask you something.  Why do you guys always steal from us?  We need that food; people have starved over winter because of the food you’ve stolen.” 

“It’s our new King, Metatron.  He believes that we’re justified in taking from you because you hunt us for sport.  King Rhena would have never supported such actions; I do not either.  But most Valkarie do; I think stealing only makes us as bad as our enemy; it’s pointless, but no one cares what I think. If I were in a position of power like my brother is they would, but I’m not; far from it.”

“How many siblings do you have?”  Dean asked.

“One older brother and one younger; Lucifer is older, and Gabriel is a year younger then me. What about you?” 

“It’s just me and my little brother Sammy; well and dad anyway.  Mom died about a year ago, some sort of sickness.”  Dean replied.

Cass looked him in the eyes and said earnestly “Vondon ur Gon tal Fa med don.  I am sorry for your loss.”  Dean shrugged, although Cass could tell he was surprised by his reaction.

“It sucks, but you just have to keep going, you know?  Dad can’t run the farm by himself.”  Cass nodded, thinking of the day he had learned that his parents had been murdered.  He spoke his next words in Enochian so Dean wouldn’t understand.

 _I really am an idiot._   Here he was talking to who could very well be the one that killed his family and yet he felt no malice towards him whatsoever.

“Maybe.”  Dean spoke, and then stopped, struggling with his words.  “I was just wondering, do you think maybe you could teach me some Enkian so I could understand you more?”  He finally asked, staring hard at his hands.

“Our language is called Enochian, I don’t know any Enkian.”  Cass replied with a tilt of his head.

Dean chuckled.  “Can’t we be simple and just call it bird talk?”  he joked.

Cass glared at him.  “No, it is far from bird talk Dean; it sounds much better than your sloppy dirty language anyway.” 

“Now that I agree with, your language is downright mesmerizing.”  Dean responded with a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling up.  Cass found himself looking away for fear that Dean would see him blush.

“Van _Don_ talceph drux ged.”  He muttered absently. ( _You_ are mesmerizing)

“Alright, so will you teach me?”  Dean asked, leaning forward like an eager student ready to learn.  The sun shining through the water made the freckles dotting his face stand out even more.  Cass still hesitated. 

“What else are you going to do; you can’t fill up 5 weeks with stretches now can you?” 

He really shouldn’t, the language of the Valkarie was borderline sacred, but Dean was just one little human.  Besides, he probably wouldn’t remember anything anyway, so he nodded in agreement.  “Just a bit.”

“That’s the spirit Feathers!”  Dean spoke, hitting him on the arm playfully and earning a glare.  As Dean left that day, Cass couldn’t help feel a bit excited to be able to spend some more time with him; which worried him all the more. 


	4. Concerning Virgins And Skinny Dipping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can I kiss you Naunged?” Cass whispered, and Deans heart rate tripled with anticipation. Where had this come from?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is fluff, a bit of fluff, and more fluff LOL. The wonderfully mediocre pictures are my own handiwork as well. I added a picture of Cass's eyes in the first chapter if you want to go look. Enjoy!

It didn’t take long before Dean was regretting his earlier enthusiasm to learn Enochian.  The next day he sat on the same blanket, his butt hurting from sitting on the ground so long and his head feeling like it was going to explode from frustration. 

“It’s in the throat; roll the r.  _Drux_ -un.”  Castiel explained for the thousandth time.  It had been almost two hours and all they had gone over was the alphabet and a greeting.  “Again,”  Cass ordered.

“Okay uh…Na…med drux, uh, Dean?”  He then promptly received a smack on the side of the head from Cass’s uninjured wing.  “Ow, what did I do that time?!”  he asked, rubbing his sore ear.

“Hello, name Dean is what you said.  “Von don med mal Naunged.”  (You are hopeless hatchling.) 

“Don’t confuse me!”  Dean exclaimed angrily, but Cass just rolled his eyes. 

“Do we need to go over the order again?”  he sighed.

“No, just-okay, here we go.”  Dean composed himself and concentrated.  “Named, Tol gon drux fam…..Dean.”  Everything he had just learned flew away from him as Cass smiled.  He had never seen him smile that wide, and holy hell did it look good on him.

“Yes; the pronunciation was rough still but Gom,” he spoke, clearly satisfied.

“Does gom mean yes?”  Dean guessed.

“Gom.”  Cass replied with a nod and another smile.

***

               The next week or so was spent with a lot of language learning.  The language was freaking crazy, but those few hours that Dean could sneak away to be with Cass were definitely the highlights of his day.  He even managed to bring some salmon and corn one of the days for his fine feathered friend. 

               The fifteenth day, as the sun was disappearing beneath the horizon, Dean rushed through the woods to get to the hideout with some food he had managed to sneak away tucked in his bag.  The smithy had been a mad house today and the cows had gotten out of their pasture sometime the night before, so he hadn’t been able to go see Cass until now.  He felt bad because he was the only source of food that the Valkarie had at the moment. He was in such a hurry that he didn’t watch where he was going and, as he was stepping around the roots of a big tree, his left foot slipped and became lodged between two roots.  He fell heavily and sharp pain shot up his leg as his ankle twisted sideways.  He cursed loudly, sitting up and carefully pulling his injured foot out of the roots to examine it.  The ankle was already starting to turn blue and was swelling up rapidly. 

               “Sunovabitch,”  he muttered, climbing to his right foot and leaning against the tree.  He considered his options.  He was at least two miles from town, so there would be great risk in trying to get back in the dark tonight, especially when there were bears and wolves up here.  He was almost to the hideout, so his best bet would be to go hang out there until the next morning.  Hopefully they wouldn’t send a search party out for him.  So he limped/hopped the rest of the way to his hideout; wincing when he accidently put too much weight on his injured ankle. 

               “Heya feathers, I’m sorry I’m late today,”  he greeted as he made his way into the cave.  Cass jumped up from his position on his makeshift bed, and Dean wasn’t prepared for the look of panic and anger in his blue eyes. 

               “THERE you are, I thought something had happened to you!  You have never been late before.”    His gaze snapped to Deans mangled ankle.  “Na gon graph Dean, what did you do?”

               “Uh…I tripped,”  Dean offered lamely.  He was still a bit perplexed that Cass cared about him so much and didn’t know what else to say.  Cass shook his head with a sigh.

“Vetall,”  he said, motioning Dean forward.  Dean sat heavily on the rock by Cass’s bed.

“Oh, also here,”  he said, remembering the food for Cass.

“Gisgh van,”  Cass thanked him, setting the bag aside.

“The cows got out so it took like, most of the day to round them up, and then the-“ he stopped short when Cass knelt by his legs and started rolling his left pant leg up.  “Uh…whacha doin’ Feathers?”  he asked nervously.  Cass’s fingers brushed the skin of his leg and every nerve was hyper aware of the soft contact. 

“Helping,”  Cass answered, taking off Deans shoe as gently as he could.  It hurt like hell and he gritted his teeth against the pain, wondering what in the world Cass planned to do to “help.”  Cass paused for a minute, gently cradling Deans left heel in his palms. 

“This injury will be quite hinder some to your daily tasks, yes?”  he asked without looking at Dean’s face.

“Uh..yea I guess,”  Dean responded, confused. 

“Does anyone else know that you’re injured?” 

“No, I fell on my way here.” 

Cass nodded, seeming satisfied with his answers.  “This will be very painful,” he warned wrapping his hands around Dean’s ankle.  Dean barely managed to stifle his cry as electrifying pain erupted in his leg; but it was replaced just as quickly by a soft warm sensation, like stepping into a nice hot bath.  After a few seconds Cass removed his hands, leaning heavily against the rock and breathing like he had just run a mile.  Dean looked down at his ankle and his jaw dropped.  It was healed; he moved his foot around to test it and it was fine.  His ankle was fully functional.  He gaped at Cass, his face a mixture of shock and awe, and Cass chuckled.

 “If you don’t close your mouth something might get in it.”

Dean snapped himself out of it, shaking his head in disbelief.  “How did you do that?”  he asked, still in awe.  Cass sat up and cleared his throat.

“Well you see, it’s ancient Valkarian magic taken from the energy of the virgins we sacrifice every full moon to the moon God Rah.” 

“Wait what?”  Dean exclaimed, blinking in confusion.  “You sacrifice virgins?” 

Cass laughed harder than before.  “I’m joking; no one really knows where our healing powers come from, they simply just are.  But it does do a number on your energy.” 

Dean smiled.  “So you _can_ be sarcastic.” 

Cass shrugged.  “Every once in awhile, yes.”  As Dean slipped his shoe and sock back on, a thought occurred to him. 

“Hey, if you have healing powers then why didn’t you just heal yourself when you broke your wing?”  Cass stood, stretching his wings a bit. 

“That’s the other downside; we can’t heal ourselves, only others.”  He turned towards Dean, stretching each wing as high as the roof of the cave would allow, which wasn’t high at all.  He let them fall with a growl of frustration.  “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what?”  Dean asked, still staring at the beautiful, dark wings.  He was aware that he was gawking; he just didn’t care.

“I’m filthy, bored and I haven’t been able to stretch my wings properly for over two weeks.  I have got to get out of this cave.”

“But your wing isn’t healed fully yet; you’ll re-injure it if you try to fly now.” 

“I know that; I was just considering taking a swim tonight.  No one from the village is going to be way out here this late, are they?”  Dean considered it.

“I’d say that would be safe,”  he decided.

“Besides,”  Cass continued.  “If anything big and scary comes along I’ll have you to protect me, right Naunged?”  Cass spoke with a smirk.  Dean didn’t even try to hide the color in his face, it was dark enough anyway, so Cass probably couldn’t even see it.

“Was that an invitation to go skinny dipping; cause if it was I’ll gladly oblige.”

“Maybe,”  Cass teased, walking past and running his feathers over Dean’s head, catching him completely by surprise.  It tickled and he sneezed.  Getting up, he followed the sound of Cass’s laughter outside.  Even though Cass had implied skinny dipping, Dean noticed he left his underwear on, so he figured he just hadn’t known what the term was and hadn’t wanted to ask; so he followed suit. 

 _He probably just thinks it’s a fancy term for swimming._  He thought to himself.  Cass was standing on the edge of the small cliff overlooking the pool below and Dean again found himself mesmerized by the Valkarie.  It was a full moon, and the soft light splashed over his exposed skin, making his tattoo even more pronounced than usual.  Then he spread his wings, stretching them to their full length and height, and Dean couldn’t suppress a small gasp of awe at the sight.  He had seen a lot of wings, but he was pretty damn sure that these were the biggest.  They had to be taller than him, if not two times longer, and they were the most majestic, stately things he had ever seen, arching over the Valkarie, erect and proud.  His eyes were closed and he was just standing there with his head slightly turned upward.

“You alright?”  Dean asked, walking up to stand beside him.

“I miss flying,”  Cass whispered; there was a pain in his voice that stabbed Dean like a knife.  “I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long between flights before, and it hurts.”  He sighed and opened his beautiful eyes, lit up by the moonlight.  Dean had to resist the urge to pull him into a hug.

“I’m really sorry,” he said softly, although Cass wouldn’t know the full intent behind that apology.  The fact that it was him that broke the Valkarie’s wing in the first place hurt like crazy.  It was all his fault and he would never forgive himself for it; because against all reason and logic, he had fallen hopelessly in love with the creature, no...the man standing next to him.

“You don’t need to apologize Dean; you are the one who is helping me after all.  If not for you I’d probably be dead, so thank you.”  Cass turned his head to smile at him and Dean felt his cheeks burn once more, only this time he was sure Cass could see it.  Then without warning Cass shoved him off the small cliff with his wing and he found himself falling into the water, icy cold against his skin. Cass jumped in after him and Dean immediately splashed him in payback.

 They swam for a bit, both just reveling in the feeling of the fresh water on their bodies.  Dean couldn’t hold in his laughter when he looked over and saw Cass bathing his wings just like a bird would, ruffling his feathers in the water. 

“What’s so funny?”  Cass asked, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes. 

“Uh, nothing,”  Dean chuckled.

“Whatever Umfamdur,”  Cass retorted, splashing Dean with water. 

“You know what, one of these days I’m gonna understand everything you say, and then you won’t be able to do that,”  Dean said.  Cass just smiled and splashed at him.

They swam for awhile, occasionally teasing and splashing each other.  Dean marveled at how at ease he was around Castiel.  The only person he could be this casual with was Sammy, and it felt so good to be able to share this part of him; the awkward, laid back guy, with someone else. 

At one point Cass dove beneath the water, which Dean couldn’t help but think was no easy task as his wings naturally floated so well.  He dove with him, wondering what he was up to, and almost inhaled water when he saw the winged Valkarie lit up by the moon under the water.  It was beautiful, almost haunting to see him with his wings stretched out under the water; like he was flying almost. They rose to the surface and Dean couldn’t find words to explain the mental image he still carried.

After about 20 minutes Dean noticed Cass swim to the edge of the pool, sitting on the rocks and shaking the water from his feathers.

“Faag,”  he cursed a few seconds later.  Dean noticed that he was trying to reach the part of his wings closest to his body, but it wasn’t happening.  He realized that that was the only part of his wings that was completely messy at this point, probably because he couldn’t reach them himself. 

“Having problems?”  Dean asked casually, swimming over and resting his arms on the bank. 

“Don’t smile at me like that unfamdur.” 

“Well, am I wrong; cause you look like you’re struggling.”  Cass sighed in defeat.

“They itch so much.  My brother usually preens them for me once a week.” 

Dean nodded in understanding.  “I see; if only there was someone around that could do it for you right now…”  he sighed, gazing around like he was looking for someone.

“Famna von,”  Cass sighed, folding his arms across his chest.

“Did you just tell me to shut up?”  Dean guessed with a smirk.  Cass glared at him.

“So you are learning something.”

“C’mon, why won’t you let me help you?”  Dean asked.

“Because!” 

Dean snorted.  “That’s not a good enough answer and you know it.”

“Because if you don’t know how to do it properly you’re going to…to..”  Cass turned his head away.  If Dean didn’t know any better he’d say he looked embarrassed. 

“Are you afraid that I’ll hurt you?  Just talk me through it, I’ll be gentle I promise.” 

“That’s not what I meant.  Uhg, never mind; orged gon. (Forget it)”  Cass muttered, burying his face in his hands.  Dean hopped out of the water to sit by him.

“Hey, don’t stress so much about it,” he chuckled, although he was pretty damn curious about what it was that he was supposed to forget. 

They sat in silence for awhile, both gazing up at the moon, until Cass broke the silence.  “My younger brother, Gabriel, and I used to fly up to the top of the highest tower in Ithivoll to look at the moon.  We’d stare at it for hours, debating whether or not it was within flying distance.” 

“And did you ever try?”  Dean asked.

“Of course I didn’t; but Gabe did.  I had to carry the little idiot back down because he flew so high up he passed out.  You’d be surprised at how thin the air is up there; and cold, really cold.”  Dean hummed in response.  “But there’s nothing quite like it,”  Cass continued.

“Like flying you mean?”

“Yes; you’re just completely free.  The wind as your only companion, rushing through you and making you forget all that could ever be wrong in the world.  It’s the one time that I ever feel truly alive, soaring through those skies.”  Cass sighed.

“It sounds wonderful; although I’m not too fond of heights myself.  I’d prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground,”  Dean admitted.  Cass chuckled.

“Then I imagine you wouldn’t do to well living on a floating mountain.” 

“A what?!” 

Cass gasped as if he had gotten stung by something.  “I mean, like..uh..you know, cause…” he attempted futilely to cover his mistake.

 Dean chuckled.  “Okay.”  He didn’t want to press anything that Cass didn’t want to share.

There was a silence before Cass continued.  “That’s where I live, you might as well know now.  It’s called Ithivol, which means Beautiful place.”

“You grew up on a floating mountain, you’re serious.” 

“Yes, there’s three total, but I’ve always lived on the west island.  That’s why humans have never been able to find us; we’re always hidden by the clouds.” 

Dean leaned back on his hands.  “Wow.”  Was all he could think to say. 

“If anyone found out that I told you that they’d skin me alive,”  Cass added, his voice trembling a bit. 

“Hey, it’s okay; your secret is safe with me,”  Dean assured, putting a supportive hand on Cass’s shoulder.  Cass smiled softly at him. 

 

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150869015@N08/25579041757/in/dateposted-public/)

 

“So what about you?”  Cass asked.

“What about me?”

“Do you spend all your time chasing runaway cows, or do you do other things?” 

“Oh.”  Dean laughed.  “Naw, that’s pretty much it actually.  You know I take care of the farm, make sure my little brother and dad don’t kill each other, stuff like that.”

“Do you work around fire sometimes?  I’ve noticed you smell a lot like smoke most days.” 

“Oh yea, I do help out at the smithy sometimes,”  Dean explained.

“So is it true that you put shoes on horses?  How does that work anyway, and does it hurt them?”

Dean couldn’t help but laugh at that.  “Well yea we do, but it doesn’t hurt the horse at all.”  Cass studied him with wide eyes as he described how he made horseshoes and other tools in the blacksmiths shop.

“That sounds very interesting; I would love to see the process you go through to make those things.”  Cass exclaimed wistfully. 

“It’s really not all that great, I promise,”  Dean assured.  “Actually I don’t know if I’d let you in the shop honestly.” 

“Why not?”  Cass asked, looking a bit offended.

“With those wings of yours I’d be afraid that you’d knock everything down or catch them on fire.” 

Cass glared at him.  “I know how to handle myself in closed spaces Dean, I’m not a Naunged like you are.”

“Are you gonna tell me what Naun-ged means any time soon, cause I’m getting pretty curious.”

Cass smirked at him.  “You never asked, so I never told you.  It means hatchling.  So infant, baby etc.”

“Okay, now THAT’s offensive, you little shit.”  Dean spoke angrily, though his smile gave his real feelings away. 

They fell into companionable silence once more after that.  Dean found himself trying his best not to shiver in the cool night air. Suddenly something warm and fuzzy wrapped around him and he realized that Cass had just wrapped his right wing around him like a blanket.  At the same time Cass leaned into him, shivering slightly himself, although he didn’t feel cold at all.  Then he realized that the wing was shaking a bit as well.  He turned to see those impossibly blue eyes not inches from his face, uncertainty and longing filling them to the brim. 

“Cass?”  he managed in a small voice.

“Can I kiss you Naunged?”  Cass whispered, and Deans heart rate tripled with anticipation.  Where had this come from? 

“You really wanna kiss a Na-a Naun-a hatchling, Feathers?”  he teased, giving up on the Enochian word. 

Cass chuckled and pulled the other wing around them so they were both enclosed in black feathers, giving him the impression that they were the only ones in existence.  Cass seemed to hesitate for only a second before his lips pressed gently against Dean’s, as soft and warm as he had imagined them to be.  It lasted only for one or two seconds before Cass was pulling away and removing his left wing.  Dean stared at him, trying to form words but unable to find the right ones for what he was feeling or for what had just happened.  Before he could, the blanket wing was being pulled over his head, yet again tickling his face and he sneezed three times in a row violently. 

“You seriously need to stop doing that!”  He sniffed, rubbing at his nose as Cass stood up, laughing.

“You should get home Naunged, your family will be missing you.”  The tips of his right wing brushed against the side of Deans face, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake as Cass disappeared back into the cave.

Dean left confused, a bit aroused and with an itchy nose, wondering what in the world had just happened. 

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150869015@N08/40406315762/in/dateposted-public/)


	5. Molting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cass gazed at the beautiful face above him, those emerald green eyes almost fully dilated and filled with lust. As Dean worked more towards the center of the wing Cass gave up trying to control himself, letting out dirty little moans and whines that would be utterly embarrassing if he cared at all, which he didn’t. The inside of a Valkaries wings were ten times more sensitive than the outsides, after all; and the secret was out by now that touching his wings like this was totally turning him on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where it gets a bit smutty. I'm gonna be honest, I'm not very good at writing smut at all, so bear with me, I'm working on it. Still, I hope you enjoy. :)

It had now been almost four weeks since Cass’s scapula feathers had been tended to, and he was going insane. He was currently pacing around the hideout, but not just from the insane itching, he still couldn’t believe he had kissed Dean. It had been about a week now, and the kiss hadn’t been brought up once. He wondered it if could just be forgotten forever, but deep down he knew that wasn’t possible. They had to talk about it sometime, and he was going to have to tell Dean about his feelings. He didn’t know how it would go, but it was maddening to him that even if it went great and Dean loved him back, they couldn’t be together. The punishment for such a sin was worse than death. If they found out that he had kissed a human…he shivered at the thought.

“Galun gisg ur!” (Dammit all!) he growled in frustration as the shivering caused painful itching to erupt all over his wings again. To make matters worse, he had woken up during the middle of the night to feathers strewn all over the bed. He only molted two times a year and he had to pick now to do it? He couldn’t let Dean see him like this. There were feathers sticking out all over his wings; they were absolutely hideous; and the floor of the cave was covered with them. He started trying to gather them up but had to stop every so often to rub the back of his wings on the wall of the cave, desperately trying to get some sort of relief. He muttered in Enochian all the while, trying to figure out what he was going to do when Dean arrived. 

“Galunta unur Faag!” (Fucking Damnit) he finally shouted in frustration, throwing all the feathers he had managed to pick up. They rained down around him like some sort of macabre confetii. He tore off the shirt he had borrowed from Dean, furiously trying to itch every part of his wings that he could reach.

“Uh…you okay Feathers?” the smooth, deep voice made him stop short. He spun around to find Dean standing at the entrance of the cave, holding some bread and cheese. Dean’s gaze scanned the feathers covering the floor before settling on Cass with a look of concern. 

“What happened; did you get attacked? Are you okay?”

“NO.” Cass answered forcefully, trying his best to ignore the itching that was starting to make his wings ache. 

Dean raised his eyebrows. “No you didn’t get attacked or no you’re not okay?”

Ignoring the comment, Cass strode up to Dean and grabbed the food from his arms. “Thank you, you don’t have to stay today; you can go. Now.” 

“Cass, why are there tears in your eyes, have you been crying?” 

“NO!” Cass practically shouted as a few tears leaked out of his eyes. He hastily wiped them away; his wings itched so damn much that they were really starting to hurt. In fact, if he didn’t let someone help him he would probably get an infection. Dean threw his hands up in surrender.

“Okay okay, I get it; but you look like you’re in pain. Can I help?” Cass stared at him intensely for a minute, and then went to sit down on his bed. 

“Yes,” he muttered in defeat. Dean followed him over, looking confused. 

“Sorry, didn’t hear you.”

“I’m…um…molting,” he murmured, red erupting in his face. “I need you to help me clean my wings.” There was a silence.

“You molt?” Dean asked, and there was a hint of a giggle in his voice. 

“Of course I do, I have wings with feathers, why wouldn’t I?” Cass snapped, wiping away more tears that had escaped and taking a big bite of bread. 

Dean looked around again, a stupid grin on his face. “You know, I bet we could make a damn soft pillow out of all these-“

“DEAN,” Cass interrupted angrily, chucking the rest of the bread at Deans face, which he caught easily; damn his reflexes. 

“Sorry, but don’t you find this just a tad bit funny?” Dean chuckled, setting the bread down. Cass looked at him incredulously. 

“I’m sitting here in tears because my wings hurt so bad, and von Na gisgna Drux med urvan malsna. Ganna, un, GRAPH.” (you have the nerve to laugh, what a JERK.) 

“Woah, don’t talk so fast, I can’t keep up. All I got was jerk and laugh.” 

“THAT SHOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND!” Cass snarled, now hurling the block of cheese at Dean. He caught that one too, before it hit him in the face. He gave Cass a look then walked around behind him. 

Sitting on the rock behind Cass, he sat the cheese next to the bread. “K, what do I do so I don’t hurt you?” he asked.

“Just, get the loose feathers out, please,” Cass pleaded, sitting up on the rock and shoving his wings into Deans lap. He didn’t even care anymore, he just wanted some relief. 

“K.” He felt Deans hands tentatively tug on his feathers, every once in awhile getting one out. Growling, he smacked him in the face with the back of his right wing. 

“You don’t have to be so gentle, they’re not going to break.” As Dean started tugging and pulling, starting from the outside of the right wing and working his way in, Cass leaned his head back and sighed in relief. 

As Dean went along he got more and more confident. He worked over Cass’s primaries, secondary’s, then primary coverts and secondary coverts. He totally forgot to tell Dean that the feathers sticking out a bit at the top of the arch of his allule feathers was supposed to do that, and so he shouldn’t yank on them. When he did just that a strangled cry escaped Cass’s lips before he could stop it; arching his back as his wing spasmed in pleasure. 

“Shit I’m sorry, what did I do; are you okay?” Dean asked, letting go immediately, much to Cass’s displeasure. How was he supposed to tell him that he was more than okay, that he was on his way to being completely aroused at this point and he didn’t even give a shit?  
“You didn’t hurt me, just, keep going,” he grated out. He practically fell apart as Dean worked at his marginal coverts and scapulars, where the feathers melded into his back. That hadn’t been touched in over a month and it felt heavenly. When he started in on his other wing he unconsciously leaned sideways so his head rested in the crook of Deans neck, the wing Dean wasn’t working on wedged in between the two of them. 

“If you do that I can’t use both hands silly,” Dean said as his left arm was trapped on the other side of Cass’s body. Dean reached up and ran his fingers through Cass’s hair as he continued preening with just his right hand, causing Cass to growl deep in his throat with pleasure.

“Cass, are you purring?” Dean asked with a small huff of laughter.

“Van mals un gon med don, Irvan.” (Shut up and work) Cass muttered. Dean huffed out another laugh and kept working, finishing up with the outside of his wings.

“Alright, how do we do the insides now?” 

“Um…I’ll lay on my back, how’s that?” Cass murmured. 

“English Cass; I’m not that good at Enochian yet.” He had been so out of it he hadn’t realized that he was speaking in Enochian. 

“I’ll lay on my back, that’ll give you the best angle,” he spoke in English. He couldn’t help but notice the bulge in the front of Deans trousers and he wondered if he were as aroused as he was. As Cass lay down on the bed, sprawling his wings out to give him better access, he noticed Dean swallowed thickly, he seemed to be struggling with something. Dean knelt to the right of him and started to work on his right wing in the same way he had done the outside, from the outside in.

Cass gazed at the beautiful face above him, those emerald green eyes almost fully dilated and filled with lust. As Dean worked more towards the center of the wing Cass gave up trying to control himself, letting out dirty little moans and whines that would be utterly embarrassing if he cared at all, which he didn’t. The inside of a Valkaries wings were ten times more sensitive than the outsides, after all; and the secret was out by now that touching his wings like this was totally turning him on. Whenever Gabe had done it for him he had known exactly what to do to avoid this problem, but Dean didn’t have a clue, neither was he upset that he didn’t know. 

As Deans fingers reached the little nub hidden in the crook of his allule feathers, he let out a dirty groan, covering his face with his hands, and then threading his fingers through his hair that was already messed up from Deans fingers earlier. Dean caught on quickly and rubbed the oily substance that came from the area into the rest of the wing, working much like a furniture polish for feathers. 

As he was climbing over him to do the other wing Cass reached up and stilled him so Dean was sitting on him in a straddling position. He then pulled him down and smashed his lips against Deans hungrily, not being able to control himself anymore. 

“Let me finish,” Dean panted, breaking away from the heated kiss and climbing to the side of him. Dean would massage his fingers into his wing, learning quickly which areas caused the dirtiest sounds. Sometimes he’d lean over and kiss Cass as he worked, drinking away his soft whines. 

“Irvan, MalsFam.” (Please) Cass whined as Dean was finishing. To show just how much his covered erection needed attention he reached over and pressed his right palm to Deans own full groin, rubbing gently. 

With an almost animalistic groan, Dean straddled him and eagerly took his lips in his own. Cass let him deep into his mouth, tasting every bit of him he could get. Their covered erections, now both begging for release, ground together almost painfully as Dean spread his legs to get better friction. Dean held Cass’s hands above his head as he kissed him silly, all over his face, neck and chest, his free hand exploring his front until it ended up on the ridge of Cass’s hipbones, massaging circles into the area. 

“Dean,” Cass moaned the name low and grating, bucking his hips up into Deans. “My wings…touch them.” He whined, fluttering his wings a bit for emphasis. Dean grabbed his allule feathers on each wing and tugged forcefully, making Cass throw his head back and gasp in ecstasy as Dean kissed his neck.

“You like that Feathers?” Dean murmured, gently massaging around the nubs in his allule feathers and making his wings tremble and twitch.

“G-Gom Irvan….ahh,” he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut. Dean smiled against his throat. “You want more?” His hands had left, leaving his feathers cold and barren. He was teasing him, the little shit. 

“Gom; more Dean, Irvan, more Gunom.” He was aware he was speaking half English half Enochian, but he couldn’t quite seem to remember English to well at the moment, he had never felt so good before. 

“Gad your sexy when you do that,” Dean murmured, placing his hands back on his wings and rubbing back and forth hard between the two most sensitive spots. “I wanna hear more of it,” he growled, thrusting their still covered dicks together forcefully and increasing the speed of his hands. “I want you to scream my name Castiel.” 

Cass threw his arms around Deans shoulders, trying not to cut him with his talons. He had never experienced such intense feelings before, nor did he think he had ever been so in love with another living being; everything was so perfect and he found himself muttering in Enochian like an idiot, just so Dean could hear him. He tried his best to hold off, but he came first anyway, his back arching off the ground as he obediently shrieked Deans name. Dean followed right after, clutching at his wings and moaning Cass’s name in his bliss. 

Afterwards, as they lay side by side, Cass’s still overly sensitive and trembling wings tucked behind him, Dean asked a question. “Is that why you didn’t want me to touch your wings?”

Cass giggled, hugging himself to Dean as close as he could get and leaning his forehead against his. “Gom, Irvan,” he whispered with a soft smile.

“Cass, what does Irvan mean? You keep calling me that, but never explain.”

Cass considered for a minute before responding. “It means my love.”


	6. Flying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling, and nodded. “Well then, here goes nothing.”
> 
> Cass looked up at him with questioning eyes. 
> 
> Gad they're so bright. Dean thought to himself as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.
> 
> “You’ve probably already guessed this, but..” He paused. Why was this so hard to say? “I’m in love with you Castiel.” The words tumbled out like a new born deer struggling to take its first steps, but they were out. Out in the open now, totally exposed; no going back now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the last chapter being a bit shorter than usual, (and due to my excitement about how much people love this story haha) here's the next chapter for ya. This chapter might be the most fluffy fluff to ever fluff, so I hope you enjoy it. And don't forget to comment!! It makes me smile so much to hear feedback!

Dean gently floated back to consciousness and his eyes slowly blinked open.  There was a constant low rumble in his ears and he wondered faintly what was going on. A low continuous rumbling like the sound of a herd of buffalo sounded in his ears. 

 _Is there a heard of buffalo outside?_   he thought.  Sitting up, he looked around in modest confusion before realizing that he was not at home.  The roaring in his ears came from the waterfall and he was in the hideout.  Everything from the previous night flashed through his mind, and if he hadn’t woken up here, he would’ve thought that it had all been a dream.  Although he distinctly remembered Castiel falling asleep in his arms, which he was very much absent from at the moment. 

“Feathers?”  he called, looking around.  Panic constricted his chest when he didn’t find the Valkarie anywhere in the cave.  “Cass!?”  he yelled louder as he jumped up and ran outside.  They had fallen asleep in the middle of the day and night was just taking over the horizon. 

“Castiel!”  he called, a hint of desperation in his voice; nothing.  “No,”  he muttered in despair.  He was gone; he had run off because Dean couldn’t freaking control himself last night, and now he was out there totally at the mercy of any hunters that were around. 

“No,”  he repeated once more. He was about to take off to go find the Valkarie before anyone else could when he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes. Looking down, he found a bundle of limbs and feathers huddled on a rock beside the water’s edge.  He had his knees pulled up to his chin and was hiding his face, forehead resting against his knees.  If Dean didn’t know better he would think that he was made of stone he was so still.  His heart leapt into his throat as he scurried down.

“Heya Feathers,”  he greeted softly.  Cass didn’t respond. “Listen, I’m sorry; I didn’t mean for…earlier to happen.  It’s my fault for pushing you.”  Cass lifted his head.

“It wasn’t your fault Dean, please don’t blame yourself.  I’m the one who started things.”  He didn’t look at him while he spoke, his eyes were on the bubbling water below his sandaled feet.  “But I don’t think you should come back again,”  he finished softly.

Those words hurt like daggers, but he had been expecting him to say something like that.  “What about food; is your wing better yet?”  he asked, trying to hold back his emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to manage flying in another week or so.  Until then I’ll just catch fish in this pond after dark; I’ll be fine.”

Dean bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling, and nodded.  “Well then, here goes nothing.”

Cass looked up at him with questioning eyes.  

 _Gad they're so bright._   Dean thought to himself as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

“You’ve probably already guessed this, but..” He paused.  Why was this so hard to say?  “I’m in love with you Castiel.”  The words tumbled out like a new born deer struggling to take its first steps, but they were out.  Out in the open now, totally exposed; no going back now.  “I felt this way ever since, well, pretty much since I met you,”  he added with an awkward smile.  “So…so even though you’re telling me to go, every fiber of my being is screaming at me to stay.  But if…”  his voice cracked and he had to stop to wipe away sudden tears that appeared.  “But if you don’t feel the same, and you really do want me to leave and never come back, I will.”  There was a long silence when all that could be heard was the sound of the falling water before Cass finally spoke. 

“I, I think I am in love with you as well.”  His words were shaky and fragile. 

Relief washed over Dean in waves and he let out the breath he had been holding.  “Well,” he laughed.  “There ya go; we’re all good then right?”

Cass gave him a stern look.  “Dean, it is not that simple.  I’m sorry, but it just is not.”

“Why not?”

Cass sighed and stood.  “Do you really think that your village, your family, is going to be alright with you having a Valkarie as a mate?” 

Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise.  “Well, I don’t know if I would go so far as to say mate yet…”  he mumbled, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks at the thought.

Cass grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.  “Just because we _want_ to be together doesn’t mean that we _should_ be; there’s a bigger picture here.  What would this mean for us and our families in the long run?  I…”  Cass paused and Dean was surprised to see his eyes shining with tears.  “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“I won’t,”  Dean replied.

“How can you be so sure?” 

“Because I’ve got you by my side,”  Dean replied simply.  Cass made a noise somewhere in between a snort and a sob.

“You really are a Naunged.” 

“Hey,”  Dean spoke, setting his hands on the sides of Cass’s face.  “We’ll figure it out; I promise.”  Cass threw his arms around Deans neck ad buried his face against Dean’s shoulder.

“My people can never find out about us, okay?  Never,”  Cas’s voice was muffled.

“Alright Cass, alright.”  Dean assured, kissing the side of his love’s head.  There was a fear in Cas’s voice that made him want to ask why, but he decided it wasn’t the best time to ask.

“Hey, how do you say love again in Enochian?  Was is Ivan?” 

Cass laughed against his neck.  “Irvan; it means ‘my love’”. 

“Irvan.”  Dean tried it out.  “Castiel is Irvan.”

Cass pulled back a bit, gazing into his eyes.  “Gom.  Un van or tal gone Dean,”  he whispered.  Dean thought hard. 

“And you…are…mine?”  he spelled out hesitantly.  Cass’s blue eyes sparkled with praise as he nodded.

 

***

 

“How does it look?”  Cass shifted impatiently on the rock he was sitting on as Dean examined his wing. 

“Really good; do you feel any pain when I squeeze here?”  Dean asked.

“Drux Med, not at all.”  Cass shook his head, shaking in excitement.  It had now been over six weeks since he had flown, and he was more than ready to fly again.

“Calm down feathers, geez.  Watch it!”  Dean exclaimed as Cass stood and spun around, just about knocking Dean off of his feet. 

“I say its dark enough, let’s go.”  Cass spoke.  Dean was smiling at him, green eyes shining as he nodded. 

“Okay, just don’t jump from any cliff edges, just in case!”  Cass heard him yell as he rushed out of the cave. 

He felt Dean grab one of his wings to make him stop as he prepared to take off and he looked back at his love expectantly.

“Well?”  he asked impatiently. 

“Just test them out first, right here; take it slow.”

“Deeean,”  Cass whined. 

“For me, okay?  Let me worry a bit.”  Cass leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips before tickling his face with his feathers.  He had found that he absolutely adored Dean’s sneezes. 

“Worrying will give you wrinkles,”  he whispered as Dean wiped at his nose post sneeze.  He then stretched his wings out fully, reveling in the cool night breeze that gently ruffled through his feathers, making them vibrate in excitement.  He slowly beat them a few times, paying specific attention to his left wing, but everything felt just fine.  Hell, it felt more than fine.

 _Slow my ass,_   he thought. With a powerful downbeat he launched himself into the air.  He heard Dean curse loudly and glanced back to find that the gust he had created had knocked him clean off his feet. 

“Fammed!” (Sorry!)  he called, and then turned his attention to the trees that were rapidly growing smaller beneath him.  The stars getting nearer and clearer all the while, and tears ran freely down his cheeks, drying fast in the cold wind.  Free; he was free again.  Nothing tying him down, just him and the stars.  The only sound the whistling in his ears and the powerful safe beating of his wings.  And he couldn’t contain his joy any longer. 

“GOM!”  he shouted into the wind, twirling around and laughing with abandon.  THIS is where he belonged; up here. 

Once the air started to get a bit thin he stopped, beating his wings to keep him in place and looking around.  The woods were so far below; and looking to the east he could see the far off clouds that hid his home.  Then there was Dean’s little village off to his right, where they made shoes for horses and herded cows. And somewhere below him he knew Dean was probably searching the skies, trying to spot him.  After a few minutes of tumbling and soaring through the heavens, he decided to go back to his Irvan in case he was getting worried, which he probably was.  And so he dove, tucking his wings tightly against his body and diving towards the Earth at a break neck speed.  When the little waterfall came back into view he spread his wings a bit too slow down slightly.  He could now see Dean standing where he had left him, waving up at him with a huge grin on his beautiful face, and in that moment he felt that everything was perfect in his life. 

Right before he would’ve smashed headfirst into the ground he flared his wings and beat them, hovering just above Deans head.  The force of it again knocked Dean off his feet and he cursed once more.

“Dammit Cass, that’s not gonna become a regular thing is it?”  he complained as he climbed to his feet while Cass lightly touched down in front of him. 

“Admit it, Van urgon Veh gisg.”  (You like it)  he teased.

Dean tried to glare at him, but failed epically.  “You are the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”  he spoke  in mock anger, but the hint of a smile one his lips gave him away.

“You are proud of your Irvan?”  Cass asked as he flared his wings once more. 

“As Hell.” 

Cass got an idea and smiled at Dean mischievously. 

“What are you thinking?”  Dean asked apprehensively.  Before he could run Cass scooped him up princess style and took off, earning a startled yelp from Dean.  Just as he thought, it was twice as hard to fly, anyone with smaller wings than his couldn’t have managed at all, and so he wouldn’t be able to go as high as he wanted to; but he had to bring Dean along if only for just a moment.

“Cass what the Hell; l-let me down NOW!”  Dean yelled, clutching around his neck like he was about to die.  “I don’t like heights remember; the ground is my friend!  This isn’t fu-“  Cass cut off his chatter by pressing a deep kiss to his lips. 

“Trust me Irvan, I will never let you fall,”  he whispered against Deans ear, and his death grip lessened a bit.  He stopped a bit above the tree line.  “Dean, open your eyes silly; I want you to see what I see.” 

Dean pried his eyes open and glanced around, and then shut them again.  “Yea, that’s great Cass; let’s go now.”

“I’m not moving until you actually take a decent look,”  Cass replied stubbornly.

With a sigh Dean looked around again, slower this time.

“Just look up at the stars first,”  Cass suggested as Dean had started shaking like a leaf.  After gazing up at the sky he stopped shaking and was able to look around.  Then he met Cass’s gaze.

“I see what you mean, it’s beautiful Cass.” 

Cass pressed another kiss to his lips and then returned to the ground.  His wings were killing him and his left wing had started to hurt a bit; he didn’t want to overdo it. 

“So you are glad I took you up there?”  he asked as he landed, setting Dean down on his feet.  But Dean didn’t move his arms from around his neck; they stayed pinned there, their noses almost touching, gazing into one another’s eyes.  Cass slipped his arms around Deans waist, pulling their bodies as close together as he could.

Dean responded by softly taking Cass’s bottom lip in between his and sucking gently, instigating a deep kiss that quickly turned into a make out session.  Cass slipped his hands underneath Deans shirt, ghosting along the gentle slope of his waist and sliding into his trousers to gently squeeze his ass. 

“You dirty little fucker,”  Dean breathed against Castiel’s mouth, winding his fingers into Cass’s windswept hair and tugging gently. 

“You are Irvan, I have every right to be dirty,”  Castiel cooed in Enochian.  Dean stared at him for a second, clearly trying to figure out what he had said but too aroused to think properly.  Just to be further antagonistic, Cass rubbed his thigh gently against the growing bulge in Dean’s pants and massaged  circles with his thumbs on the ridges of his hips.  He was feeling a lot better than he had in a long time.  He could finally fly again, and he had the best Irvan in the whole world, and he was HIS and no others.  Leaning in he whispered in Enochian into Dean’s ear. 

“I want you Dean Winchester; now.”  Based on the gasp from Dean and the way his pupils dilated, the message had gotten across.  After another heated kiss Dean broke away, practically panting. 

“We should take this inside,”  he breathed, his voice hitching from a particularly hard thrust against his groin.  Cass smiled, feeling empowered that he could fluster his Irvan like this. 

“I agree,”  he replied, pulling Dean in the direction of the cave.


	7. Homeward Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yes, thank you Dean; never in my life did I think I would ever be saved by a human.” Cass chuckled, sitting down on the edge of the small bluff above the pool.   
> “I never thought I’d fall in love with a Valkarie,” Dean replied with a smile. There was a pause then Dean continued. “Will I ever get to see you again?” Cass heard the pain in his voice, quite evident although he could tell he was trying to hide it. He opened his mouth to tell him that of course he would, but then paused to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that this one is so short. To make up for it I'll post the next chapter this coming Tuesday or Wednesday.

Castiel woke to the soft sound of Dean’s snores. His first thought as he gazed at the man in his arms was unfathomable love; the second was that he couldn’t feel his left wing. He felt a flutter of panic in his chest but quickly realized the reason for the numbness; Dean was sprawled out on top of it. Cass thought back on the night before, his nerves tingling when he recalled making love to his Irvan; it had been a wonderful night. But now the sun was rising and he knew that he had to go; no matter that he didn’t want to. He gently pressed a kiss to Dean’s forehead and removed his right wing that had been serving as their blanket, exposing both their bare bodies to the air and making Dean shiver slightly.

“Fam-med” (sorry) He murmured, lifting Dean’s front so he could wiggle his numb wing free. Dean stirred in his arms. “Ged dondrux.”(Good morning) he said slightly louder as he kissed Dean on the lips. 

“Mornin.” Dean mumbled, smiling up at him sleepily and then sitting up on his own. Cass shook his left wing, feathers rustling dryly, trying to get the blood flowing again. “You alright?” Dean asked, seeing his discomfort.

“Yea, my wing just fell asleep,” he answered simply.

 

“Oh,” Dean replied with a suggestive smile. He reached out and started massaging the feathers closest to his back. “Here, let me help with that. Get the blood pumping again.” He winked.

Cass closed his eyes, sighing in contentment. “As much as I’d love this Dean, I-oh!” He was cut off as Dean hit a particularly sensitive spot.

“What was that? Didn’t quite hear ya there,” Dean snickered, making his way outwards and causing Cass’s whole being to shudder with delight. 

“Deeean,” he whined. “I need to go relieve myself.” 

“I can help with that,” Dean teased, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his inner feathers. As much as Cass wanted to sit here and enjoy Dean’s love, he knew he needed to return to his home. Plus he really really needed to piss. So he stood, pulling his wing from Deans grasp and purposefully running the length of his feathers firmly against Deans exposed cock, just as a punishment. Smiling at Dean’s unsatisfied huff, he pulled on his clothes and walked outside.

“So…” Dean trailed off as he followed Cas after a minute or so. Cass smiled, knowing what Dean was thinking. “It’s great that you’re all healed up; didn’t even take as long as we thought it would.” 

Cass nodded. “Yes, thank you Dean; never in my life did I think I would ever be saved by a human.” He chuckled, sitting down on the edge of the small bluff above the pool. 

“I never thought I’d fall in love with a Valkarie,” Dean replied with a smile. There was a pause then Dean continued. “Will I ever get to see you again?” Cass heard the pain in his voice, quite evident although he could tell he was trying to hide it. He opened his mouth to tell him that of course he would, but then paused to think. 

“Our relationship…” he began, carefully thinking about his words. “Is extremely dangerous, you realize this?”

Dean heaved a sigh, sinking down to sit by him. “Of course I do. I have no idea what my dad would do to me if he ever found out.”

“Would he hurt you?” Cass asked, suddenly concerned for Deans well-being.

“I don’t think so; not physically anyway,” Dean replied thoughtfully.

Cass thought about telling him what would happen if his family found out. Telling him about the time when he was just a fledgling, when one of his teachers, Ms. Naya, had been found to have slept with a human. What they had done to her was unspeakably cruel, and his parents had made him watch. It made him sick inside every time he thought of it. The consequences of sleeping with a human were disastrous for a Valkarie to say the least; but something stopped him from telling this to Dean. Perhaps it was because if Dean ever thought that he was in physical danger he knew he would do anything to keep him safe; even remove himself permanently from Castiel’s life.

“What will you tell them, about where you’ve been?” Dean asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

“The truth; well, most of it anyway. That I was caught in a humans trap. I managed to escape but broke my wing in the process, found a place to hide by some water and lived off fish until I could fly again.”

“They’ll buy that?”

Cass shrugged. “We’ll see.” 

“My dad is getting really angry at me for being gone so much; he says if I’m off hunting so often then I should have brought back something bigger than a rabbit or a deer by now,” Dean admitted.

Cass nodded. “Then it would be a good idea I think for us to separate for at least a few weeks, if not more.” He thought that he could feel Dean physically flinch beside him, and he wrapped one wing around his shoulders in comfort. “I know, it’s a hard decision for me as well, but I think it would be safest for us.”

“No, I agree.” Dean nodded, though there was some strain in his voice. He couldn’t fool Cass.

“Dean,” he spoke, leaning in and turning Dean’s head towards his so he could look into his eyes. “I will always come back to you, you have my word.” He enfolded them in his wings like he had when he had first kissed him and gently pressed his lips to each of Dean’s eyelids, kissing away the nearly shed tears clinging to the lashes. “I love you,” he murmured, going for Dean’s lips next. The kiss ended way too soon then they both stood, embracing one another one last time.

“When can I see you again?” Dean whispered.

“The next full moon,” Cass decided.

“That’s almost a month away.” 

“I know, but I don’t want my family getting suspicious; they’re very perceptive and keep close tabs on everyone.”

“Okay, I love you Castiel,” Dean sighed.

“Don’t get rusty on your Enochian, I didn’t teach you all I did just so you could forget it you know.” Dean laughed and pulled away. 

“Vonur graphdrux, Irvan.” (Until then, my love) Dean spoke slowly.

Cass smiled fondly. He didn’t think he could ever love another living thing more than he loved this wonderful human in front of him. “Vonur graphdrux, Irvan. I will see you soon.” He spread his wings and turned his thoughts towards home.

***

Castiel thought about trying to reach out to Gabriel or Lucifer right as his home came into view, but then decided against it; it would probably just freak them out. He had been gone for over a month after all, everyone would think that he was dead for sure. They had probably already had a ceremony for him and everything; and he was as nervous as you could get. He had changed while he was with Dean after all, and he knew that his family would definitely notice. He flew to the East side of the furthest island, where he lived, scanning the ground for any sign of his family; but didn’t see them. Maybe they were on the main island today. He decided that he’d just wait at home until someone came back, he wasn’t overly eager to go searching and announce to everyone else that he was alive.

He landed lightly in the backyard of their little cottage home, half made by their parents and half from the tree it was embedded into. It was right on the edge of the island and had a marvelous view of the other two, and the sky beyond. Walking passed the little pond filled with all sorts of colorful fish; he walked in the back door, thinking he’d just wait inside for a while. To his surprise, as he walked into the main room, he found Gabriel standing at the fireplace in the corner, stirring some sort of stew over the fire. His back was to him and he hadn’t yet noticed he was there. Castiel froze, trying to figure out if he should say something or just wait until Gabe noticed him. Just as he had decided to say something Gabe turned and he found himself staring at his brother. 

(Speaking in Enochian) “Hello brother,” he spoke hesitantly when Gabe didn’t say anything, just started at him in shock. He looked exactly like how he had when Cass had left that night; bright golden brown hair and speckled gold and brown wings to match. He opened his mouth as if to say something several times, but no sound came out. Cass was just about to offer the explanation that he had rehearsed when his brother found his words. 

“Cass, is it really you?” It was spoken slowly, giving him a once over like he expected to be able to see right through him. 

“Yes, it’s me; I’m home.” Cass walked up to his brother and embraced him. After a second Gabe returned the hug. 

“I don’t understand; we thought you were dead!” he exclaimed, stepping back. “Do you know how long you were gone; what the hell happened?”

“I know and I’m deeply sorry; the night I went to get something to eat before the storm broke, I got caught in a humans trap.” It came out as a mumble; friend to a human or not, he was still embarrassed about letting himself get caught like that.

Gabe looked at him dubiously. “Then how are you alive; not even the strongest Valkarie I know can get out of those things, not after they started using metal.”

“It was the storm actually; it broke the tree and the trap in the process, but I couldn’t get completely untangled before I hit the ground. That’s when I landed on my wing.”

“Okay hold up. You managed to get out of the trap okay, but how did you keep hidden with a broken wing?” 

“Honestly it was sheer dumb luck. After a few days of wandering around I stumbled upon a pool with a small waterfall. I went to catch something, thinking it was night and no humans were going to be around, and saw something shining behind the waterfall. Turns out that there was a cave behind it; that’s where I stayed until I could fly again.” Gabe stared at him for a full half minute, and Cass felt his heart rate spike. You can’t let him know you’re nervous, he’ll know you’re lying. He thought to himself, trying his hardest not to let anything slip. Finally Gabe started laughing, which confused him, but as long as he had bought what he said he’d take it.

“You mean to tell me that you lived off of fish for almost two months, hiding in a cave? I thought you reeked, all that time and you didn’t think to take a bath?” he asked when he could speak again.

Cass chuckled, looking down at himself and shrugged. “I actually did once; I guess it doesn’t do much good without soap though, and I didn’t have a change of clothes either.” 

“Brother, you look like Hell, and you smell even worse. Why don’t you go take a bath, and then we’ll figure out how to break the news to Luci about you being back from the dead.” He chuckled again at his own joke. “You never cease to amaze me Cass; that’s a pretty wacked out story you just told me, but I’m glad you’re okay.” Gabe stepped forward and once again embraced him. “Now go.” 

Cass went to get the water to heat for his bath, letting out a sigh of relief. Now he just had to tell everyone else and not let slip that he was in love with a human, especially when he was around his family, who could read his thoughts if he was close enough to them; piece of cake, as Dean would say. Piece of cake.


	8. Night Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s going on?” Dean asked his dad, his heart hammering in his chest.
> 
> “We’re going on a hunt tonight; old Yager went and trapped himself a Valkarie. Big toned male with the biggest black wings I’ve ever seen. It took three men to contain it so they could put the weights on the wings. They’re gonna set it loose in about half an hour, so you better hurry and get ready, cause it’s fixin’ to be a good fun night.”
> 
> Dean found himself staring at his dad in mild shock, trying to remember how to breathe. A male with big black wings; did Cass come back to try to tell him something and get caught again? No, he wouldn’t be so careless, not after last time. But what if…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two jobs and a full time student, and I still managed to get this on here by the time I told you! Hooray!

The sun was barely dipping behind the mountains, casting the first deep shadows that heralded twilight when Dean started to head for home.  He had a fair sized deer slung over his shoulder and was deep in thought.

It had been a little over two weeks since him and Cass had parted ways, and as far as he knew everything was going well. No one had found out about them.  _Hopefully_ , a little voice in the back of his head whispered, but he brushed it away.  He may not have any proof that Castiel was okay, but he had to believe that he was or he didn’t know what he’d do. The sound of distant rustling pulled him from his thoughts, stopping him in his tracks. Even though there was no breeze to speak of, far off to his right he could see one tree swaying gently. 

Going to investigate he found a Valkarie with blonde hair and storm-cloud wings caught in someone’s trap half way up the tree.  When she caught sight of him she started struggling even harder.  After checking that no one was near the area, he set the deer down and climbed the tree. She wasn’t the first trapped Valkarie he had helped since Cass had left, and it had become almost second nature to him.  They were just as human as him after all.

“Would you just hold still, I’m trying to help,”  Dean grunted in frustration as the entangled Valkarie lashed out at him with her fangs. He muttered under his breath in frustration, fumbling with the clasp on the trap as she jerked away from him once again.  Her big greycatlike eyes watching him with obvious fear and loathing. 

“You’re lucky I found you, if it was anyone else you’d be dead,”  he spoke as he worked.  She didn’t seem to understand English as well as Cass did, and he was sorely tempted to talk to her in Enochian so she would understand that he was just trying to help, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not.  What if she ended up capturing him and asking how he knew Enochian, what if it somehow got Cass in trouble?  Of course he had no idea how it would, but still, could he take the risk?  After another minute of unsuccessful struggling he decided that he better take a chance, or they were going to be here all night.

“Gongisg Med Veh, Gontal Ordon Drux.  Gongo Un Gisg Naur.”  (It’s okay, I’m a friend.  I want to help.)  It was rough of course, but the woman froze and stared at him in tense surprise, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she had just heard.  “Talun Tal?”  (May I)  he asked, gesturing to the tangled clasp at the top of the trap.  She must have understood, because this time she didn’t resist as he untangled the clasp and then set her free.  As soon as she was free he jumped to the ground and grabbed his knife from his belt, just in case she decided to attack him, but all she was interested in was getting away.  She climbed higher in the tree and then looked back at him for a moment, almost as if she was going to say something.  After a moment of tense staring, she shook her head and spread her wings, disappearing into the sky in a flurry of feathers. 

Dean sighed and tucked the knife back in his belt.  Throwing the deer back over his shoulders, he continued towards home.  The way she had looked at him, had he done the right thing talking to her in Enochian? 

 _Well, whether it was right or wrong doesn’t matter anymore.  It’s done, and that’s that_ , he thought to himself as he emerged from the trees into the front yard of the farmhouse.  To his surprise his dad was waiting for him on the front porch.  He nodded to him as he walked up the steps. 

“Hey dad, I’m just gonna go skin and hang this in the shed, okay?”  He said, patting the deer with a smile. 

“You can do that later, I’ve been waiting for you to get home,”  John dismissed the deer almost urgently, smiling at Dean like he had a huge surprise for him.  That would have been fine if he didn’t have a glint in his eye that Dean only ever saw when a Valkarie was near and he knew that soon it would be dead.  A sort of excited fury. 

“What’s going on?”  Dean asked, his heart hammering in his chest.

“We’re going on a hunt tonight; old Yager went and trapped himself a Valkarie.  Big toned male with the biggest black wings I’ve ever seen.  It took three men to contain it so they could put the weights on the wings.  They’re gonna set it loose in about half an hour, so you better hurry and get ready, cause it’s fixin’ to be a good fun night.”

Dean found himself staring at his dad in mild shock, trying to remember how to breathe.  A male with big black wings; did Cass come back to try to tell him something and get caught again?  No, he wouldn’t be so careless, not after last time.  But what if…

“Son, you feelin okay, you look pale,”  John spoke, jerking Dean out of his thoughts. 

“Oh yea, I’m fine.  Yea this is exciting, I’m just, uh, I’m gonna go take care of the deer and I’ll be, I’ll be ready,”  He stuttered, turning and heading for the meat shed in a daze.  What was he going to do?  Even if it wasn’t Cass, he couldn’t let these people just murder the poor thing.  He was going to have to find a way to get him and the Valkarie alone so he could take the weights off of his wings.  They attached the weights so the Valkarie can’t fly away, and then set it lose in the forest, hunting it down on foot.  He had never really thought it was fair before, but was downright against it now to say the least.  He didn’t know how, but first he had to find out if it was Cass or not, and then find a way to help him escape.

***

After storing the deer, he quickly got ready and ran to Yagers house as fast as he could.  By the time he got there, it was plenty dark and most of the town was there, all buzzing with excitement for the night ahead.  He saw his dad and to his surprise, Sam, standing a little ways to his left.

 _What is Sammy doing here, he’s not old enough for a night hunt_ , he thought as he pushed his way to the front where the Valkarie was chained to a fence post until they were ready to release it.  He felt the panic that had been gnawing at his insides abate a bit when he saw that was in fact, not Castiel, but still felt a pang of sympathy for the guy.  Looked like he had put up a good fight.  He was already sporting some big cuts and bruises, and he did have massive wings.  _Not quite as big as Cass though._  

“Dean, over here!”  Sam’s eager voice called from behind him.  Dean turned and made his way back to his dad and brother.  _Right, now to address this situation._

“Since when do you get to come on hunts?”  he asked with a frown, looking from Sam to John in disapproval. 

“Since tonight,”  John spoke up.  “You were his age when you started hunting after all, it’ll be a good experience for him.” 

“No, I just started learning how to trap when I was his age, you didn’t let me go on night hunts until I was 18,”  Dean corrected him.  “Because they’re dangerous,”  he added.

“C’mon Dean I’m 16, that’s plenty big enough; you’re just jealous cause I’m starting out sooner than you did,”  Sam said smugly.  He wasn’t taking this serious at all. 

“Look Sam, this isn’t a game, you could get seriously hurt if you’re not careful.  Some of these people get way to into this and if you don’t make yourself known to them, they will attack you.  I really don’t think this is a good idea,”  he directed the last part at John, but before his dad could respond someone up front called for attention, forcing the conversation to end.

 _Dammitt._ If Sam was going to come on this hunt, he needed to keep an eye on him to make sure he wouldn’t get himself killed.  How in the world was he going to do that while helping the Valkarie? 

After some sort of gusto speech from Yager, Dean wasn’t really listening all that hard so he wasn’t sure,  they set the Valkarie lose.  Now they would wait about 5 minutes before setting off after the thing.  He still had time to convince his dad that Sam should stay behind.  Turning back to John he opened his mouth to speak, but John beat him to it.

“I don’t want to hear it Dean, it’s not your call to make!  If I think he’s ready to start hunting, then he’s ready to start hunting, and you are not going to change my mind.  In fact you shouldn’t even be trying to.  I’m giving you the job of looking after your brother tonight, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do, you understand me?”

“But dad I-“  Dean started, but John cut him off.

“Don’t you dare keep talking back to me son, or you will regret it later mark my words,”  John spat.  Dean fell silent, knowing full well that his dad meant business.  There was no changing his mind on this one. 

“Let’s go!”  Someone yelled, and people started darting into the trees, eager to be the one who caught and killed the Valkarie first. 

“C’mon Dean, we’re getting left behind!”  Sam spoke, his eyes shining with excitement.  After throwing one more dirty look at his dad he followed his younger brother into the trees.

 _Man, was I ever like this?_ Dean found himself thinking.  All pumped up and bloodthirsty to kill another human being?  Only they weren’t humans to him then, he reminded himself.  He hadn’t known any better.  He didn’t know how, but he was going to help the Valkarie out tonight, he couldn’t let him just get murdered after all. 

About an hour and a half later he was almost 100% sure that he was closing in on the Valkarie, all the while Sam tagging along, insisting half the time that they were going the wrong way. 

“Would you please just be quiet, I know what I’m doing.”  he hissed, sounding a bit more harsh than he intended to, and Sam fell into a silent pout.  _Old enough to hunt my ass._ Dean thought with an exasperated sigh.  Just then he saw a shadow moving out of the corner of his eye and he froze, causing Sam to slam into him from behind.

“Ow, what the Hell Dean?”  Sam exclaimed angrily.

“Shut up, I saw him,”  Dean whispered urgently, furiously trying to figure out how he was going to free the Valkarie without disclosing to his brother that he was no longer a hunter but a friend to them. 

“Well, let’s go!”  Sam whispered after a few moments of just standing there.  Dean has just decided that he would just have to take his chances with Sam finding out when someone shouted up ahead, followed by the sound of a struggle. 

 _Shit, someone found him first._   Dean thought in a panic, rushing forward even though he had no idea what he planned on doing.  Not 15 feet from where they were there were three men battling the Valkarie, and right as they arrived one of the men successfully shot an arrow into the winged man’s chest. 

“No!”  Dean yelled before he could stop himself, running up to the Valkarie, who had fell to the ground almost instantly after the arrow pierced him. He had several more wounds on him than before they let him loose.  He checked for a pulse, but found none.  He was dead, he had been too late.  He heard the man who had shot the Valkarie laughing and shot him a death glare. 

“Stop laughing,”  he growled, an intense burning anger building up from his stomach, into his chest.

“Oh come off it.  I got it first, fair and square.  You’ll just have to wait till the next hunt to impress everyone with your “skills”, Dean,”  the man scoffed, Chris now that he was close enough to see.  Before Dean knew what he was doing he was on top of the man, pinning him to the ground and digging his fist into his face as hard as he could over and over.  The other two men had to drag him off of the guy.

Dean looked around at the two other men and Sammy, who was looking a bit spooked.  They all did.  “I-“  He started, terror flaring up in his stomach.  Had he just blown it?  No, no this was fine, if he could get his head on straight he could talk his way out of this.  “I’m sorry guys,”  he spoke, turning and offering his hand to the murderer still lying on the ground.  Chris got up himself, slapping Deans hand away with an angry snort.

“You’re right Chris, this was your catch fair and square, I’m sorry I let my temper get the best of me.”  That’s right.  Let them think that he had lost his head over not being the one to kill the Valkarie, that was the only way to explain himself out of this. 

“Damn right it is, if you don’t learn to control that temper of yours you are gonna find it hard to get by you know.”  Chris spat at him, wiping the blood from his nose.  Just then others started arriving.  Dean knew what was going to come next and he really didn’t want to see it this time, so he walked off into the trees, leaving Sam with the others. 

For a split second when he arrived at the scene, when that arrow had pierced the Valkarie’s chest, he had looked just like Cass.  He wasn’t of course, it was just because it was so dark and the man had the same build and color of wings as him, but for a second he had been convinced that Chris had just murdered his Irvan, and he had lost it.  He clenched his jaw and walked away.

Dean wandered around for a bit until he knew for a fact that the villagers had taken what they wanted and were gone, then went back to the small clearing where the poor Valkarie still lay, now wingless, crumpled on the ground.  He looked so perfectly human this way, and he was still trying to shake what he had seen and thought earlier.  He couldn’t stop the tears from coming and he found himself kneeling by the man and sobbing.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry,”  he muttered over and over, his whole body shaking.  “I tried to save you, I should’ve just helped you and let everyone find out that I’m not your enemy anymore; I’m sorry I was so afraid of what they would do, what dad would do, I’m sorry.”  He sat there for a while longer before he climbed to his feet and headed back to Yagers house.  When he got there, everyone was still inside celebrating and drinking.  No one noticed him getting a shovel out of the shed and heading back into the trees to bury the Valkarie.


	9. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So you’re saying that we could speak to each other with our minds, I could have powers? Why haven’t you mentioned this before, that sounds awesome!” Dean spoke excitedly.   
> “Well, that’s between a man and woman Dean. I don’t know if it would work between us; we do have the same anatomy after all.” Castiel said.  
> “Well, we’ll never know if we don’t try, right?” Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another one of my favorites, the title speaks for itself. :) I also wanted to thank all of you who have been giving such wonderful feedback, it means so much to me that y'all like my work! Also, I added a picture of little villager Dean fishing in the first chapter, if you're interested hehe.

Dean eagerly made his way through the trees to the waterfall, where Castiel said they would meet. The sun was fading behind the horizon, washing the sky in a brilliant red and orange display which gradually melted into a deep violet the further up you looked.  He could see the moon, full and beautiful, rising into the sky as the sun was just hiding its face.  He had told his dad that he was going to be gone that night, going on an overnight hunting trip.  This last month had probably been the longest month that he had ever endured, but finally the full moon was rising.  Finally tonight he would be able to see his Irvan again, and he could barely contain his excitement. 

               After what seemed like forever he made it to the waterfall, panting from practically running all the way there.  He climbed into the cave behind the waterfall with a huge grin on his face, trying not to yell in excitement.  “Heya Cass, long time no….see,”  he faltered, looking around at the dark, empty cave.  _Oh well, he had beaten Cass here then, that was all._

               He set up his bed and belongings in the cave, along with his lantern, and walked back outside to wait.  After a few minutes of antsy pacing and staring up at the sky, he got an idea.  He went back into the cave to get his fishing pole and went down to the pool to hopefully catch a fish before Cass arrived.  _Maybe I’ll have time to cook it for him,_   he thought as he cast the line in and sat down to wait.  As the sky grew darker and there was still no sign of the Valkarie he found himself growing nervous, and all sorts of unwelcome thoughts started pushing their way to the front of his brain.

_What if they found out about us after all?_   He quickly pushed that thought away.  Castiel was way too clever to slip up like that; he was fine.  Then a much darker thought that had been secretly eating at him gnawed its way to the surface of his mind.  _What if he decided not to come; what if he doesn’t want to see me again.  He should be here by now after all, what if he doesn’t love me anymore?_ His line went taut and he pulled the salmon out of the water, trying to not think of what he would do if that really were the case.

“He’s just being held up; quit being so paranoid.  Besides, he gave his word; a guy like him doesn’t break promises,”  he said to himself as he built a fire and skewered the fish to cook it; but he was worried.  It was getting late, and Cass had said he would meet him at the sundown of the next full moon.  The fish finished cooking and he took it off the flames, setting it on a plate he had brought.  _He’s not coming,_ Dean realized as he stared at the plate and tried vainly to push the feelings of betrayal and anger away. The fish turned blurry in his vision as he tried to fight back tears.  _It was all a lie just so he could get back to his people; did I actually think he would love someone like me?_

He was about to throw the cooked fish into the flames when there was a light flutter of wings and Castiel appeared seemingly out of nowhere, landing lightly on the grass and making the fire flicker from the breeze his wings had caused.  Dean stared at him like an idiot from across the fire, still holding the plate of fish in his hands. 

“Hello Dean,”  Castiel said almost uncertainly as he stepped into the light.  Dean’s breath caught in his throat and he carefully set the plate down as his eyes raked over the Valkarie.

   Castiel was gorgeous.  He wore a dark brown leather girdle around his waist with bright blue stones embedded in the leather, making his eyes pop like none other.  He had the girdle just low enough to show off his damn hip bones, with that tattoo climbing up his side and leading to his built chest.  He was even more toned than Dean remembered; his skin looked so soft and tan.  And he wore  silver metal shoulder plates, running in layers down his biceps, with white fur in between each plate.  They were held on by a crisscrossing belt that lay across his chest, making his muscles bulge even more. 

 

 

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150869015@N08/39970358515/in/dateposted-public/)

 

“Heya Feathers,” Dean breathed, his face breaking into a smile.  Castiel smiled at that, the uncertainty in his eyes fading away. 

“I missed you, Dean.  I’m sorry I’m late, Lucifer wanted me to help him with something and it took longer than I thought it would,”  he explained apologetically.  Dean slowly walked around the fire and up to the Valkarie, taking his face gently in his hands. 

“I missed you so much Cass, I’m glad you came back,”  he whispered, cursing himself for being so emotional. 

“Of course Dean, I will always return to you; I gave my word, remember?”  Dean nodded, leaning in and gently kissing his Irvan for the first time in over a month.  He tasted better then he remembered.  After a minute he reluctantly broke away though, remembering the fish. 

“I uh, got you some salmon if you want.  It might be a bit cold by now but-“  He was cut off by another kiss from Cass. 

“Nah-Van Irvan.”  Cas said through a smile before going over and sitting by the fire.  Dean thought hard while he followed. 

“Thank you, right?”  he asked, sitting down as well.  Castiel nodded his approval and picked up the plate.

“So you haven’t totally forgotten what I taught you, that’s good.”  Cass chuckled while pulling some of the meat off the fish and taking a bite. 

“Hey, I’ve been practicing almost every day, give me some credit here!”  Dean protested, trying to look offended; but he was just so happy.  He was finally with Castiel again, and it felt so good he could shout for joy.

“Oh good, I feel so much better,” Castiel spoke sarcastically through a mouth full of fish. 

“Shaddup,”  Dean retorted, trying to punch him in the arm but failing because of the metal on his shoulders.  “Dude, why are you wearing shoulder plates; are you going off to war or something?”  He teased, fiddling with the white fur.

“Yea, I actually can’t stay.  We’re in the middle of a huge war with the Valkaries from the East right now and it’s starting to look like we might not win.”  Cass’ tone turned serious.

“Wait what; you’re not joking!?”  Dean exclaimed, all sorts of thoughts running through his head at the idea of his Castiel fighting for his life.  Then Cass broke into a fit of laughter.

“I’m sorry, you’re just way too easy; I was joking.” 

 “That’s far from funny Cass; you’re so serious I can never tell if you’re really joking or not,”  Dean spoke angrily, and he really was angry.  He had gotten scared for a minute there, and he found himself turning away and crossing his arms like a five year old who didn’t get what they wanted.  _Really?_   He thought to himself, but even so he didn’t move.

“Hey, I really am sorry, I didn’t know it would upset you this much,”  Cass’ concern was sincere.

“If you didn’t think the idea of you going off to fight and probably die wouldn’t upset me then you must think I’m pretty heartless Cass.”  He found himself saying.  _Stop acting like a baby, what is your problem?_

There was a pause, then arms appeared around his waist and Castiel’s face nuzzled against his neck.  “I am so sorry Dean, I wasn’t thinking,”  he murmured against his skin, making Dean tip his head a bit to one side to allow him more access. 

“You should be.”

“Truth is, I actually wore this outfit to impress you,”  Cass said sheepishly. 

“Oh yea?  You wanted to impress me huh?”  Dean said with a smirk, pulling away and turning around.

“So you don’t like it then?”  Cass asked self-consciously, looking down at his outfit. 

“Of course I like it Cass; Hell, I think it’s straight up hot.  There’s a reason I was rendered speechless when you first arrived.”  Dean reassured.  Cass looked back up at him hopefully, making him chuckle.

“You’re beautiful Cass.”  That earned him a huge smile and a blush. 

“As are you Dean.”  They both sat in companionable silence, gazing at the fire for a few minutes before Castiel spoke.  “How has your month been; are the cows behaving?”  Dean chuckled.

“Yea, well mostly anyway.  Old Josie finally had her calf the other day, so that’s always exciting.”  Dean paused, wanting to tell Cass about his latest rescue and choice to speak Enochian, but after a glance at his beautiful Irvan he decided against it.

“Really; and you got to see it?”  Cass asked in surprise. 

“Yea of course, I helped her through it, there were some complications but Sammy and I were able to get everything back on track thankfully.”  It took him a minute to realize that Cass was staring at him in admiration.  “It’s not that big a deal, really; it’s just a cow.” 

“I think it’s pretty amazing, I’ve never done anything like that before.”  Cass replied, laying his head on Deans shoulder. 

“How has your month been?”  Dean asked, mainly because he didn’t know how to respond to such a comment.

“Mm, it was alright.”  Cass mumbled.

“Wow, that was convincing.”  Dean spoke sarcastically. 

“Lucifer has been trying to get my brother and me to join him as guards for the king,”  he sighed.

“And you don’t want to?  That sounds pretty badass to me.”  Dean replied honestly.

“Of course I don’t; Metatron is an awful king, I despise him; and guard is just a fancy word for servant.  I’m not going to be stuck feeding and tending to a fraud for the rest of my life, not if I have anything to say about it.” 

“Yea, that doesn’t sound fun at all.”  Dean spoke, putting his arm around Castiel’s shoulders and kissing his head lightly.  “What do you want to do then?”

Castiel hesitated before he spoke.  “I would like to be a healer actually.” 

“But you guys have healing powers already, is that still a problem?”  Dean asked in confusion.

“Healing takes a tremendous amount of energy, there’s a limit on what we can do; and we can’t heal everything.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Certain sicknesses we can’t heal.  I don’t know why, it just is.  I would like to see if I could figure out how to heal those ailments, not with magic but with actual medicine.”  Dean was silent.  “I know it’s stupid, when I told this to Lucifer he laughed, saying that we’re not mud monkeys and we don’t need such medicine.  That’s why we were given our gift of healing, but then why can’t we heal everything?”

“No I agree.  No offense, but your brother kind of sounds like a jerk,”  Dean replied.  Cass huffed a laugh.

“I’m not going to argue with that.  He’s Metatron’s right hand man now you know.  He’s always been….difficult, but now that he’s in a position of power he’s downright mean.”

“Then why do you listen to him?”

“To keep the peace; and Metatron favors him.  If I rebel too much I know for a fact that he wouldn’t hesitate to throw me into prison.”  Dean whistled.

“Wow.  Yea, definitely heavy weight ass right there.”  Then he had a thought.  “Cass, do I need to be worried about you getting thrown in prison?”  Cass chuckled a bit.

“Why, would you miss me?”

“That’s a stupid question and you know it.  I’m serious; what if one of these times you don’t come back because you’ve gone and got yourself in trouble?  I was worried enough when you turned up late tonight; I don’t know if I could stand not knowing what happened if one day you were just gone.”  Dean found himself spilling all of his thoughts and fears out without meaning to.

 “Sorry, I don’t know where all that came from, ignore me,”  he said afterwards, trying to excuse himself.  “I just wish there was a way that I could know for sure you’re safe, that’s all.”  To his surprise Castiel started laughing.  “How the Hell is that funny?”  he asked angrily.

Castiel turned his head to look at him.  “I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at what you said, I promise. It’s funny because I was trying to figure out how to ask you something, but you just pretty much asked it for me.”  Dean looked at him in confusion. 

“Ask me what?”

“Well, there is a way we could know of each other’s well-being.  Family has this ability, sort of anyway.  Not nearly as strongly as mates do of course, but a bit.  And seeing as you and I are mates I thought it would be appropriate if we, if I- I don’t even know if it would work.  I think it would, but I’m not sure-“

“Feathers; spit it out already!”  Dean laughed, wondering what Castiel was so nervous about.

“Well, when two Valkaries sleep together, their bond between each other is sealed.  They become one, so to speak.”

“Okay…”  Dean’s heart starting to race. 

“There bond becomes so strong that they can speak to each other with their minds, without having to speak at all.  Members of the same family can also do this, just not over long distances.  Granted it takes practice, but mates can speak to each other even if they are a great distance apart.  It’s called “Gisg-Na Gal, The Bond.” 

“So you’re saying that we could speak to each other with our minds, I could have powers?  Why haven’t you mentioned this before, that sounds awesome!”  Dean spoke excitedly. 

“Well, that’s between a man and woman Dean.  I don’t know if it would work between us; we do have the same anatomy after all.”  Castiel said.

“Well, we’ll never know if we don’t try, right?”  Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.  “Wait a second, we’ve had sex before and nothing happened.  Do we already know that it won’t work?”  He realized right after he spoke.

“No, this time would be different.  This time I would…”  Cass trailed off, turning bright red. 

_That is freaking adorable._  Dean found himself thinking. 

After a minute Cass looked back at him, composure regained.  “You know, it might be better to just show you.”  Something in the way Cass was looking at him made his heart rate double, and he licked his lips unconsciously; it was a downright predatory stare.  Cass stood up and kicked dirt on the dying embers of the fire, smothering them completely, and then held out his hand.  Dean took it, letting him help him up in nervous excitement and following him into the cave.


	10. Bonded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you’re not ready I understand,” Dean murmured.  
> Cass turned; he could already feel his body starting to burn with lust. “No, I want this Dean. There’s nothing I want more than to become one with you,” he stated, stroking Deans face with his thumb. “As long as you feel the same.” He added in a soft, uncertain voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this one is a bit late. Again, I'm still working on my writing smut ability, but I hope you enjoy this lovely little chapter. ;)

Castiel had brought some pillows and blankets of his own, mainly because he really hoped that something like this would happen, and he took them into the cave and started laying them on top of Dean’s to make their bed even more comfy.  _Why are you so nervous?_   he asked himself as he laid the blankets out.  It’s not like this was his first time; of course when he arrived he wasn’t even sure if Dean would still love him and he had found that it was quite the opposite; he was still very much in love with him, but what he wanted to do, create this bond with Dean; it was different then messing around like they had done before.  It felt more…final, and that scared him a bit.  Did he want this sort of connection with Dean, of course!  _Then stop acting like a 16 year old virgin._ He told himself.  But for some reason he couldn’t turn to look at Dean.  He found himself shaking and closed his eyes to try and calm himself.

“Hey, you okay?”  Deans voice interrupted his thoughts.  “We don’t have to do anything you know.” 

“No, I want to.  It’s just that-this bond; it’s very, sacred.”    _You are doing a marvelous job of making a fool of yourself._

“Sacred, like marriage?”  Dean asked.

“Yes, something like that.”  He felt Dean hug him from behind, his nose nuzzling against his neck and he leaned into the embrace with a sigh, all it took was one touch from Dean and all his anxieties melted away.

“If you’re not ready I understand,”  Dean murmured. 

Cass turned; he could already feel his body starting to burn with lust.  “No, I want this Dean.  There’s nothing I want more than to become one with you,”  he stated, stroking Deans face with his thumb.  “As long as you feel the same.”  He added in a soft, uncertain voice.

As an answer Dean leaned in and kissed him deeply.  “I love you; and only you Cass.”  He murmured in between heated kisses.  Pleasure exploded in Castiel’s wings as Dean reached around him and grabbed just the right spot where his wings melded into his back, making him gasp in surprised wonder.  That was all the motivation he needed.  Grabbing Dean’s faded green tunic, he tugged it up and over his head, only to have the sleeves catch on his wrist guards.  Dean chuckled and removed them himself.

“In a hurry are we?”  he teased, but fell silent when their eyes met.  Dean could probably see the lust in his eyes, for he had never wanted anything more in his life than to be inside the man in front of him.  Grabbing Deans thighs, he picked him up and lay him down on their makeshift, actually very squishy and comfortable bed, careful to not let him hit the ground too hard. 

“Let me,”  he whispered as Dean went to remove his trousers.  First he pulled his girdle and shoulder plates off impatiently, then slowly pulled Dean’s pants and underwear off.

“You should keep the belts on.”  Dean suggested with an impish smile.  “I like them on you.”  Cass lifted an eyebrow suggestively as he pulled the belts back on, but left the metal off.  Sitting between Deans legs, he leaned over him, kissing and rubbing their erections together with one hand while propping himself up with the other.  After reacquainting himself with Deans neck, nipples and stomach, he sat back, which earned him a small whine from Dean.

“What are you doing; get back here and finish what you started you little shit,”  Dean growled and  Cass just smiled.

“Watch me,”  he murmured as he tucked his wings underneath his arms so he could rub the nubs in his allule feathers.  His flight feathers rubbed against the inside of Deans legs, making him shiver.  He rubbed until his hands were coated in the oily slippery substance that came from his wings and he was panting like an animal in heat.  Dean had propped himself up on his elbows and was watching with wide eyes.

“Do you trust me Dean?”  he asked, and Dean nodded.  He pushed Deans legs up against his stomach so he could gain better access and with a slicked thumb pushed lightly against his rim while gently sucking at his balls. 

“Ah shit-C-Cass-“  Dean stuttered.  Cass stopped.

“Is it unpleasant, do you want me to stop?”  he asked uncertainly.

“No, it feels, feels great.  Keep doing it, please!”  His pleading fueled Cass’s confidence.  He carefully slipped the tip of his thumb in passed the rim, giving Dean a minute to get used to the feeling. He went slowly, loving how worked up Dean was becoming by the increased amount of finger inside of him mixed with the attention Cass’ lips were giving his senstitve parts. Cas got two fingers in and was steadily pumping, making Dean moan loudly, when he realized Dean was ready.

He slicked his own cock with oil, never once taking his eyes off of Deans face.  Then he put the head against Deans rim.

“What are you waiting for?”  Dean whined.  “I’m so ready for this.”  Cass chuckled a bit at that, and slowly pushed in until he bottomed out.  He groaned in pleasure at how tight and warm it felt inside his Irvan. 

“Holy hell.”  Dean breathed, his hands were scrambling to find somewhere to grasp, and that gave Cass an idea.

“I think I have a better use for these.”  He spoke, taking his belts off and tying Deans hands together with them.  “DruxMed Van Don Tal.”  (Now you are mine)  he growled, pinning Deans hands above his head.

Dean gazed up at him with loving eyes.  “Yes Irvan, I’m yours.”  Cass kissed him, licking deep into his mouth and dancing with Dean’s tongue. 

“I’m going to move now,”  he whispered and Dean nodded. 

“I trust you.” 

Cas started thrusting, slowly at first, then faster and faster until he hit a place that made Dean cry out, his whole body going taught. 

“What is it?”  he asked in alarm, almost immediately pulling out of him. 

“I don’t know but keep hitting there, that was wonderful,”  Dean panted. 

“I didn’t hurt you?”

“N-no, just move!”  Dean practically begged.  The panic Cass felt initially was quickly swept away, replaced by his playful side.

Van Un Graph Gisg Tal?”  (You want me to move)  he teased, moving only a bit. 

“That’s what I just said, move!”  Dean demanded.  Cass smirked.

“Taaaal Na?”  (Moooove what?) he cooed, leaning down and nipping at Deans ear.

“Move please dammit!”  Dean almost shouted.  And with that Cass started thrusting into him, hitting the spot every time now.  He was getting close, he could feel it, and by the looks of it so was Dean.  His face was scrunched up in ecstasy, his eyes hooded and gazing with wonder up at him; he was so beautiful.

 

 

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150869015@N08/26140224587/in/dateposted/)

 

“Van Don Drux, drux Un Med Na-or!”  (You are mine; mine, and no other)  He found himself babbling in Enochian, filling with so much love and possessiveness for the human beneath him he almost couldn’t stand it.  He arched his wings high in a show of power, daring anyone else to challenge him, for Dean was his, and his alone. 

Then Dean screamed his name, arching his back and spraying all over his front, and he followed right after.

“Dean!”  he yelled, releasing inside of his love.  They both were still for a moment, panting and gazing into one another’s eyes, reveling in the aftershock of their orgasm.

***

Dean felt like he was floating, he had never felt anything so intense and wonderful before.  As Cass slowly pulled out of him and untied his hands, he became aware of the mess on his torso and stomach.  “Uh, I should probably clean that up,”  he mumbled, but Cass was already wiping it away with a cloth.  Then he lay next to him and Dean snuggled into his Irvan with a content sigh.

It was only then that he noticed.  He felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness; of love, lust and all of the above, but it wasn’t his.  He realized he was feeling Castiel’s feelings.  For a second he even felt the weight of wings on his back.  “Cass, I feel you,”  he murmured against his Irvan’s neck.

_I feel you as well Irvan._ It was spoken inside his head, and he jumped involuntarily.  He heard a chuckle, also inside his head. 

He closed his eyes and focused on feeling what Cass was feeling, then spoke in his mind.  _I think it worked._   It was lame, but it was all he could think to say. 

_Yes Irvan, I think so as well._


	11. Secrets Never Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our two lovebirds have an unexpected and dangerous visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where a certain someone starts to have more of a play in the story. Hope you like it!

 They ended up meeting about once every week, even though Cass didn’t think that was entirely a good idea.  He went along with it though, mainly because he wanted to see Dean as often as he could as well.  It had been about two months since he had returned home, and no one seemed even remotely suspicious about where he would disappear to once a week, so he figured as long as it stayed that way then they would be okay. 

               He was currently trying to finish up his studies as fast as he could so he could go meet Dean.  The sun was almost hidden below the horizon and he should have been there already, but had a bit more homework than he would’ve liked.  It didn’t help of course that he kept on having thoughts and feelings that were very much not his own, no doubt put there by his Irvan; and not all of them were appropriate.  First there was impatience, and he pushed back a picture of the work he was doing.  After a while of nagging he started to get all sorts of suggestive phrases, and he found himself hurriedly trying to hide an unexpected boner as Gabriel came into the room. 

“Still working Cass; it usually doesn’t take you that long to finish, does it?”  Gabe asked in surprise, grabbing an apple and biting into it. 

“I’m just having an off day I guess, can’t concentrate as much as usual,”  Cass replied, trying to push all of the enticing thoughts Dean was feeding into his mind out of his head, but having little luck.  Just then a particularly dirty thought entered his mind and he slammed his quill down on the desk in frustration.  _Dean, you need to stop._   He thought forcefully, hoping that it went through, but doubting it.  Still not very good at the long distance communication thing, both of them had only been able to send feelings and words here and there, occasionally phrases if they tried hard enough.  He shook his head; of course Dean would use his new ability to try to seduce him over long distances.

“Are you alright; your face is all red,”  Gabe spoke through a mouthful of apple; damn, he hadn’t noticed that he had been watching him. 

“Really stressed with this; maybe I should just give it up for the night,”  he replied as he ran  a hand through his hair.  The feelings had stopped, so at least part of the message had gotten through.  Either that or he had gotten bored. 

“You kind of look like a cherry tomato about to explode.”  Gabe chuckled through a mouth full of apple, Cass glared at him.

“How about you don’t talk with your mouth full; it’s unsightly.” 

“Yes mom,”  Gabe mocked, tossing the remainder of the apple out the open window.  “So Artemis is having a get together over on the far island at sundown, you wanna go?” 

“Actually there were some things I was gonna do tonight down on the ground; I’ve been finding a lot of new herbs down there that I think could really help with the nasty flu stuff going around.  You know, since we can’t heal it, I thought it would be good to fight it with something at least.  Besides, you know how much I hate crowds, and Artemis isn’t that fond of me anyway.”  Cass replied.  Lying had become so natural to him it was almost frightening. 

“Well, alright then; go off and do your own thing, like you always do.  It’s your loss though.”  Gabe shrugged, heading out the door. 

_Finally_!  Cass thought, his heart starting to race with excitement.  _I’m coming Dean, on my way._   He pushed through the connection, and to his surprise, got a whole phrase back. 

_Oh, I’ll make you come alright._

***

“Dean, you really need to stop trying to seduce me through our connection; do you know how many problems it causes?”  Cass scolded when he arrived at the waterfall.

“It’s good practice for me; I’m getting better and better, don’t ya think?”  Dean grinned impishly, pulling him in for a deep kiss.  “ _Why, did you get a boner in front of one of your brothers_?”  He thought to Cass as they kissed.

_“Shut up,”_ Cass retorted, although he couldn’t help but smile against his Irvans lips.  Just then he felt the unmistakable presence of Gabriel and jumped back from Dean in alarm.  Sure enough, there he was, standing on the edge of the little bluff overlooking the water, with an absolutely horrified look on his face. 

“Gabriel!”  Cass exclaimed in horror; he could feel the color draining from his face.  “What are you doing here!?” 

“What am _I_ doing here?  I think I should be asking you that question, don’t you think?”  Gabe retorted, looking from him to Dean and back again like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  His face was a mask of confusion and anger.  There was an awkward silence in which neither of them quite knew what to say next and Dean just stood there, watching them nervously.  Finally Gabe spoke up. 

“What are you doing Castiel; and no more lies.” 

Cass took a deep breath, taking Deans hand in his, more of for comfort and support than anything.  “This is Dean, he saved me from the trap I told you about.  He was the one who showed me where to hide,  helped my wing heal; he saved my life.”  Gabe’s eyes lingered on their entwined hands.

“You fell in love with him.”  He sighed, wiping his hand across his face. “Of course.”

Cass nodded.  “Yes, he is my mate.”  Their eyes met, and to his surprise all he saw in them were fear. 

Gabe turned away and looked like he was about to take off, but Cass knew he couldn’t let him do that.  He couldn’t let him go back and tell, anything but that. 

“Gabe, please wait!”  he pled, letting go of Dean’s hand and running up to his brother.  He reached out to grab his shoulder but Gabe slapped his hand away. 

“Did you know its bad luck to even be touched by one of their kind?”  Gabe spoke in a soft voice. 

“Gabe, humans are no different than us.  Just come over and talk to him, you’ll see.  I was the same way at first, but he helped me, if it wasn’t for him I would probably be dead.”

“So as a thank you, you slept with him?”  Gabe scoffed.

“No, it was-it’s complicated okay?  But we do love each other, and yes, I have slept with him.  As I said before, we’re bonded.” 

“So this is where you’ve been coming these past two months.”  Gabe spoke.  “You are one sneaky little bastard Cass, I only recently started wondering about it.  Do you know what position this puts me, puts us, in at this point?  I mean, are you even remotely aware of the danger you’re in?”  Gabe ranted, his voice raising as he spoke, and Cass realized that the fear in his eyes was for him. 

“Yes.”  He mumbled, glancing at the ground.

_What’s he talking about Cass?_   Dean thought to him.

_Not now._   He pushed back.  He was hoping that they were both speaking in Enochian so fast that Dean wouldn’t be able to keep up; seems like he knew a bit more than he thought.

“I mean, _do you know_ the risk you are taking right now?  You know how this is going to end right?” 

“It doesn’t have to be that way; no one will ever find out.”  Cass replied.

“Come on Cass, you think you can hide something this big for the rest of your life; really?  They’re going to find out, and when they do, don’t ask me to watch my brother go through… _that_.  We were both there when our teacher got found out for sleeping with a human, remember what they did to her?  So what, you want that to be you next?”

“I know okay!”  He said a bit more forcefully then he meant to.  “I know.”  He repeated more softly.  Gabe watched him closely as Dean came up and took his hand once more.

“Excuse me, but I’m here as well; my name is Dean.”  Dean spoke shakily in Enochian, and Cass couldn’t help but smile at how awful the pronunciation still was. 

“You taught him our language?”  Gabe asked in disbelief. 

“Gabe, please.  As your brother I am literally begging you, please don’t tell.”  He didn’t know what else to say at this point.  It was all up to his brother now.  There was a tense silence, and then Gabe sighed in exasperation.

“I’m not going to tell Cass; but I will tell you that they are going to find out.  It’s not a matter of if, but when.  Lucifer is suspicious as well you know.” 

“Really; I hadn’t noticed.”  Cass replied nervously.  Maybe he wasn’t hiding it as well as he thought he was. 

“Yea, really; look, I just don’t want to see my brother get hurt.  You could just come back with me right now and pretend none of this ever happened.”  Gabe suggested hopefully.  Cass looked at him, and then turned to look at Dean.

“Okay, what’s going on?”  Dean finally asked in English; he had been wondering when his patience would run out. 

_Dean, let me handle this please._   He thought to him, which earned an eye roll, but he fell silent none the less.

“You really love him that much huh?”  Gabe spoke up.  Cass turned back to him.

“I do, yes.  We’re bonded Gabe, I can’t just leave.”  Gabe looked down at the ground, seeming to be struggling hard with something. 

“Okay then; your secrets safe with me.  But don’t forget my warning.” 

Cass nodded.  “Thank you my brother.”  He spoke in English. 

“Oh, so he’s your brother; I thought I heard the name Gabriel; nice to meet you Gabe.”  Dean spoke up, extending his hand with a polite smile.  Gabe looked at it for a second, then turned and flew off in a flurry of feathers.  “Nice to meet you too.”  Dean spoke as an afterthought, lowering his hand.  “Well, how did it go?”

“He’s not happy, to say the least.”  Cass said.

“Well I kind of got that; what’s gonna happen now, do you have to leave?” 

Cass looked at him.  “No; how many times do I have to tell you, I’ll never leave you Dean.  He said he’d keep our secret.” 

“That’s good, but what was he talking about them finding out?  He made it sound like they would execute you for being in love with me or something.” 

“Can we just forget about what just happened?”  Cass asked in a small voice.  He didn’t want that subject being brought up, ever.  He had hoped he could always keep Dean in the dark about that, but now that he had an idea, he wasn’t going to stop asking until he was told.  Dean must have seen the fear in his eyes because he didn’t press the matter, which Cass was extremely grateful for. 

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.”  Dean spoke reassuringly, pulling him in for a hug.  He could feel how much Dean wanted to pry about what sort of danger Gabriel meant, and the nervous concern he felt.  He should tell him, he really should, but he just couldn’t bring himself to at the moment. 

_I know, thank you Dean._   He thought to his Irvan, kissing him lightly on the lips.

That had been close; if it had been anyone else other than Gabriel, it would all be over.  And he had said that Lucifer was on to him, he needed to be more careful, or the best thing in his world was going to be snatched away from him in one deadly sweep. 


	12. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just what the title says lol. OH NO FIRE!! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is also a tad longer so enjoy while you can! Funny thing, this chapter wasn't in here originally, but I had a dream about it so here it is. I'm telling you, my dreams can be damn inspiring sometimes.

 “Cass would you stop daydreaming and give me a hand with this please; what is wrong with you?”  Lucifer’s voice cut through Castiel’s thoughts, and he tried to turn his attention fully to helping his two brothers clean.  There had been a bad lightning and wind storm the night before.  It had done quite a bit of damage to their home, so they had been stuck cleaning and repairing things the whole morning. 

“You know, ever since you came back you’ve been awfully spacey, not to mention lazy as a pig in the mud.  Did all that fish get to your head?”  Lucifer scolded as Cass helped him with a particularly large branch that had fallen on their chicken coop, all but smashing it to bits.

“It must have, sorry.”  Cass replied, inwardly cursing himself for his carelessness. 

Lucifer rolled his eyes, unimpressed.  “Just shut up and work please.”  Cass sighed in annoyance, but started working on repairing the fence none the less.  When Gabriel walked over, bringing him some supplies, he whispered in his ear. 

“He’s suspicious you know; you’ve got to be more careful.” 

“You don’t think I know that already?”  Cass whispered back, then Lucifer came back from dumping the branch and they fell silent.  As he worked his thoughts inevitably wandered to Dean.  He was hunting today; he had headed out yesterday afternoon, so he hoped he was okay. 

_Of course he’s okay, stop worrying so much._ He scolded himself.  Gabe was right; he needed to get his head out of the clouds, uh, figuratively anyway.  He couldn’t afford anyone else finding out about him and Dean, and Lucifer was definitely getting suspicious.  Rest assured he wouldn’t be as understanding about his relationship as Gabe was. 

Just then Asmantha, one of Gabe’s friends, appeared out of the sky, landing gently on the grass.  She had long brown hair and cloudy grey wings.  “Good morning!”  She greeted brightly; she was always quite preppy, especially around Gabriel.  She had a major crush on him, and wouldn’t stop trying to get with him even though he had told her repeatedly that he wasn’t interested. 

“Good morning.”  Castiel replied, feeling Gabe sigh in disappointment beside him. 

“Have you guys seen the forest next to the humans nest yet?”  She asked.  Cass stiffened a bit. 

“No, what’s going on?”  Gabriel asked before he could say anything.

“What’s going on; the whole mountain is on fire!  The lightning storm must have started it last night.  It’s going to be a very smoky day.  Do you think the fire will make it to their nest?”  she chatted excitedly. 

Lucifer laughed.  “I hope so, those damn mud monkeys have been a thorn in our sides for too long.  It’s time that mother Earth purged herself clean of their stink.” 

Castiel’s mind was racing. _On fire; the mountain?  That was right where Dean said he was going yesterday._  He tried to keep himself calm. _Maybe he went home before, because of the storm._ He thought; but he knew that he needed to check anyway.  He noticed Gabriel staring at him with a knowing look on his face.

“Are you alright Castiel, you look kind of pale.”  Asmantha spoke, making him jump.

“Oh, um…” He stuttered, and once again Gabe came to his rescue. 

“You said you weren’t feeling well this morning, has it gotten worse?”  Gabe asked him.  Cass caught on quickly.

“Yea, I think I better go lay down actually, I feel like I’m gonna puke,”  he replied.

“Well, just don’t puke on me please,”  Asmantha teased.

“I’ll come with you to see if it’s anything I can heal,”  Gabe offered, and he followed him to the house.  The whole time Cass could feel Lucifer’s eyes boring into the back of his head.

“He’s really suspicious; you’ve got to be more convincing Cass,”  Gabe whispered.

So hesitantly, Cass stuck his index finger in the back of his throat to gag himself.  It worked a bit too well and he had to immediately hunch over in the grass, relieving himself of the eggs and bacon he had eaten for breakfast a few hours earlier.  Once they were inside he hurried to wash his mouth out with water. 

“I was thinking something along the lines of holding your head or stomach, but you know, throwing up works as well.”  Gabe teased, chuckling a bit.

Cass glared at him.  “Dean is hunting on that mountain, I need to go make sure he’s alright.”  Gabe nodded.

“I figured as much; don’t worry Cassie, I’ll cover for ya.” 

Cass smiled, patting his brother on the shoulder.  “I appreciate it, but don’t call me Cassie please.”

“Whatever you say Cassie,”  Gabe replied with a smirk. 

Cass left out the back door, making sure that Lucifer was still speaking with Asmantha before taking flight.  He was hit almost at once with thick smoke as he descended, and he had to cover his mouth to keep from breathing too much in.  Asmantha was right, smoke covered the whole mountain side and was getting dangerously close to Deans village.  He dropped down to the tree line, reaching out to Dean with his mind, searching and getting more worried by the minute when he didn’t get a reply. 

_C’mon, where are you Dean?_   he thought, his heart rate increasing in panic.  Maybe this was a good thing that he couldn’t find him, maybe that meant that he was at home, safe and sound.  Or it could mean something totally opposite. He brought his wings up short to stop himself in midair when he caught sight of a figure down below, kneeling on the ground.  He couldn’t see very well through the smoke and branches, but the man had the same frame as Dean, and so he swooped down to the ground beside him.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that this was NOT his Irvan. The older looking man caught sight of him and yelled in alarm, scrambling to his feet. He  reached to his belt, but there was nothing there, and  started to cough harshly, dropping back to his knees.  He had dark hair and scruff, and had multiple burns on his well-built arms.  Cass turned to fly away when he realized it wasn’t Dean, but couldn’t bring himself to leave the poor bastard.

“Faag.” he swore to himself before turning back to the suffocating man on the ground.  He reached down to help him up, but the man pushed him roughly away.

“Oh no you don’t, filthy anim-“ but again was overcome by coughing. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, just let me help, please,”  Cass said impatiently, noticing that they were very much in danger of being overtaken by the flames at this point.  He tried to help the human to his feet but again the man pushed him away.  “Look, you either burn or put up with a few minutes of contact from a Valkarie, which is it gonna be, because you’re running out of time.”  The man glared up at him with hate filled, confused eyes.  Then he slowly allowed Cass to help him up.  Without any warning he scooped him up like he had done with Dean and took off, the man yelling in protest the whole way.

“Hold still  Dammit!”  Cass spoke as he tried to keep them from plummeting out of the sky.  The man was trying his hardest to get out of his arms, and he was even heavier than Dean.

“Let me go you freaking animal, I’m gonna kill you and mount your wings on my wall!”

Cass rolled his eyes, searching for a safe place to dump this idiot.  The man managed to twist just right and he almost fell, Cass just managed to hang on to one of his feet so he was dangling upside down.

 “FAAG!”  he swore once again, beating his wings furiously to keep them above the fire line.  The man was really shouting curses at him now.  Spotting a pool of water a bit to his right he quickly flew to it and only lowered himself a bit before letting go of the struggling man’s foot thankfully.  He fell a little ways and splashed into the middle of the pond.  Cass only stuck around to make sure his head surfaced safe and sound. 

_There; he’ll be safe in there till the fire stops._ He thought as he flew off to continue looking for Dean.

The smoke was now starting to burn his lungs, and he had to try hard to suppress his coughing.  Time was running out; if he didn’t find Dean soon he knew it would be too late, and his wings were starting to ache from all the flying and trying to hold extra weight.  After  five more minutes, although it felt more like five hours, he finally felt Dean’s presence in his mind.  It was faint and fading fast, but it was there.  He latched onto it and flew circles around the area.  Finally he caught sight of a flash of color; it was the blanket that he had used as a bed while his wing was healing.  It looked like Dean was covering himself with it, huddled in a sandy area mostly clear of vegetation.

_Smart move,_ Cass thought as he flew down to him.  He removed the blanket and a very ashy, watery eyed Dean looked up at him. 

“Cass, what are you-it’s not sa-“  He was cut off by a fit of coughing.

“I could say the same thing about you Irvan,”  Cass replied, scooping him up in his arms.  Dean tried to reply but only a dry hacking cough came out.  He was running out of time, he had been in this smoke for way too long.  Looking up, he noticed that while he had been on the ground the fire had caught onto the trees around the clearing, and there was little room to escape through the air. It wasn’t very favorable to fly through fire, but he didn’t really see a choice as the fire had left no way out on foot. 

“C-Cass- d-“  Dean was still trying to speak; Cass pressed a kiss to his forehead reassuringly. 

“It’ll be okay Irvan, don’t worry,”  he promised, covering Dean once more with the blanket.  As he took flight he tried to tuck his wings as close to his body as they yelled in protest at the extra weight he again held and he wobbled a bit. He felt the fire singe his feathers and winced, flying as fast as he could to get out of range.  Thankfully he didn’t think his wings had caught fire, but the thick smoke was starting to make him very dizzy. 

They were on the far side of the mountain where the fire was the worst, the smoke was so thick he couldn’t tell where he was going.  Dean had passed out in his arms and Cass glanced down at him worriedly.  He had some nasty burns on his face and arms and Cass couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.

_I need to get him to safety so I can heal those, h_ e thought, coughing harshly.  Everything was starting to become a blur and he no longer had any idea where he was.  He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes on the blanket, with little success.  For a moment the whole world spun and his grip slackened, just about dropping Dean; but he snapped out of it just in time. 

_I’ve GOT to land._   He looked around frantically, blinking against the smoky wind and burning in his eyes. Call it a miracle, but right at that time he spotted the waterfall and cave where he had stayed while his wing healed. He managed to make it into the cave, setting Dean down gently and checking his breathing. Thankfully it was steady, he just seemed to have passed out from breathing in too much smoke.  Coughing, he put his hand on each of the burns, forcing himself to use the remaining energy he had to heal them.  He managed to heal all but one on his leg before darkness overtook him.

***

It took Dean a minute to get his bearings when he awoke.  He sat up, and was overcome by a fit of coughing.  Where was he, what had he been doing before he passed out?  He glanced around the cave and spotted Castiel lying beside him, unconscious.  “Cass?”  He ground out, his voice sounded like sandpaper and talking only brought another coughing fit on.  He wasn’t hurt, just looked like he was sleeping, only he didn’t wake when he shook him.  Checking his pulse, he was relieved to find it strong and steady, he had probably breathed in too much smoke. 

That’s right, the fire.  He had been getting ready to go hunting after spending the night in the mountains when he had noticed the smoke.  Try as he might, he ended up getting surrounded before he could find any water.  If Cass hadn’t come along, he would be dead right now.  He peaked outside to find the trees filled with smoke still. 

_Better just stay here for now then._ He stuck his head underneath the falling water, reveling in the refreshing cool it brought to him.  Then, cupping some in his hand, drank a bit.  Tearing a piece of cloth and wetting it, he bandaged up the nasty burn on his leg, wincing a bit as he finished tying it.  It was only then that he noticed that that was the only burn he had at the moment, yet he knew that he had gotten more than that before he passed out. 

_That’s why he hasn’t woken up yet. he_ realized, walking back over to Cass and sitting down by him.  _He must have healed all he could until he passed out, the idiot._   He shook his head with a small smile.  Cass’ wings were kind of at an odd angle, so Dean tucked them comfortably behind him, then changed his mind and heaved one of them onto his lap.  He always forgot how heavy they were, every time he lifted them deadweight it reminded him.  He sat and lightly stroked the outside feathers, reveling in the strong sturdy feeling of them and feeling the muscles underneath the feathers.  He noticed that the very tips of some of his flight feathers were singed, and only then remembered the risk he had taken getting him out of that clearing.  He could have seriously injured himself, but he had taken the risk anyway, just to save his sorry ass.  Just then Cass stirred, slowly sitting up and, like Dean had, begin to cough. 

“Go stick your head underneath the water; it’ll make you feel better,”  he suggested.  Cass looked at him and his wing, still lying in Dean’s lap. 

“What were you doing, molesting me in my sleep?”  Cass teased hoarsely.

“Naw, just admiring,”  Dean replied with a smug smile, petting his feathers once more.  Cass gave him a mischievous look, flicking his wing to tickle Deans face and of course, make him sneeze. 

“That’s what you get for almost killing yourself,”  Cass sad as he rose with a groan and headed towards the waterfall. “You’re right, that really does feel great.”  He sighed, tousling the water out of his hair. 

“Told you.  How did you even find me though?  I wasn’t reaching out to your mind; I tried but couldn’t concentrate enough, too much smoke.” 

“Honestly it was sheer luck.  I found someone before you and had to get him to water, he was a stubborn asshole for sure.  It took me at least half an hour, if not more, to find you.”  He explained, coming over and plopping down beside him.

“You were flying around in that smoke for over half an hour?  No wonder you fainted.” 

“You were in it for far longer, I was afraid I was going to lose you.”  Cass exclaimed softly.  “I came to look for you as soon as I found out there was a fire on the mountain.  I remembered you were going hunting and thought I’d better come and check to see if you were alright; glad I did.” 

“Me too,”  Dean agreed.

“Oh, by the way, let me see your leg,”  Cass motioned to him.

“No way, it’s just a little burn Cass, I can deal.  You already exhausted yourself,”  Dean argued.  Cass gave him one of his looks and Dean suddenly knew that it was pointless to argue any further.  “Fine.”  He sighed, untying his bandage.  He watched closely as Cass put his hand to the burn, there was a soft light, and then it was healed.  “That will never cease to amaze me you know.”  He exclaimed, rubbing his hand over the now unmarred area. 

“Dean?”  Cass asked suddenly.

“Yea?”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”  Cass said, wrapping both wings around him and hugging him tight.  He loved it when Cass did that.  It gave him the feeling that they were in their own little world, just the two of them.

“I love you too Cass,”  he chuckled.  “I checked outside and the whole area is still covered with smoke.”  he murmured.

“So we’ll just have to stay here awhile then, wait for it to clear,”  Cass finished his thought with a smile.  He nodded.

“How did you know what I was thinking?  You a mind reader or something?”  he teased, leaning in and taking Cass’s lips in his own gently. 

_That better have been meant as a joke Dean._   Cass’s voice rang through his head.  He concentrated, focusing on the feeling of Cass’s lips and tongue on his, feeling the smooth curve of his body; trying to get the same feeling he had right after Cass had given him there bond. 

_Did you know sometimes, if I concentrate, it feels like I have your wings, Cass?_   he thought. 

_Really?  That’s interesting; can you feel them now?_

_A bit, yea.  Gad they’re heavy, how do you manage to hold them up so damn long?_

_I’m just amazing like that,_ Cass thought back.  Dean snorted against the space of neck he was currently exploring with his mouth.  _If you feel my wings you should touch them, then you could get a sense of how it feels._ Cass suggested.  There was an idea.  Reaching behind Cass’s back, he pinched the thin membrane right by his back, and the result astounded him. 

“Holy shit,”  Dean murmured, leaning his head on Cass’s shoulder and reveling in the pleasure wave that had just run through his body.

“Told you it was better than when someone plays with your hair,”  Cass spoke with a smile.

“Well damn, now I’m already half hard,”  Dean chuckled. 

_Well we’ll just have to do something about that then, won’t we?_ Cass thought to him, tugging him as close as he could with his wings and kissing him until they both had to break away to cough and regain air with matching grins.


	13. Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (They know), Cass thought in dismay. Out of the corner of his eye another guard passed them, briefly asking which way he had come from. (They’re going to kill Dean!) He realized in horror. Closing his eyes, he focused all of his strength on reaching out to Dean’s mind. (They know, they’re going to kill you. Dean RUN.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of the sad, so hold on to your butts!

Castiel was snoozing happily in Dean’s arms when he felt it.  His face was tucked under his lover’s chin and his arms were wrapped around Deans waist, as Deans were wrapped around his shoulders, holding him firmly against him.  They were both naked, but it didn’t matter, for one of his wings was draped over their slumbering forms, providing a cover and warmth for the both of them. 

All at once pain and fear jolted him awake, and he sat up with a start.  So many emotions were overrunning his senses, he grabbed his head and searched, trying to find out who they belonged to.  As the emotions were cut off he finally recognized who it was.  “Gabriel.”  Only then did he become aware that Dean was holding his shoulders, gazing at him with worried eyes. 

“Cass, you okay?”  he asked, replacing one of Cass’s hands with his own on his cheek.  “Babe, you’re scaring me.”  Castiel looked at him, still breathing heavily from the urgency of the emotions.

“I-I think Gabriel is in trouble,”  he muttered, barley remembering to speak English. 

“What do you mean; did he tell you telepathically?”  Cass shook his head.

“He didn’t have to; his feelings spoke for themselves.  I must go and find him, now.”  Dean nodded. 

“Yea, for sure.  When you comin’ back though, so I know you’re safe? I’m still working on the telepathic stuff.”  Cass smiled fondly at his human.  Feeling a sudden surge of affection, he leaned in and pressed his lips softly to Deans. 

“I’ll be back here by this time tomorrow.  Gon Gedvon Tal Gonmedgal,”  he whispered against Deans lips.  Dean paused, thinking hard. 

“You, give….your word.”  He spelled out slowly.  Castiel smiled proudly. 

“Yes, Irvan.”  They spent one more moment gazing into one another’s eyes then Cass stood and slipped his clothes on. 

“Von gisgna, Irvan,”  Dean called as Castiel spread his wings.  Castiel turned with a smile.

“Von gisgna Dean; you would do well to put on some clothes.” Then mentally he added, _Or not._ Dean’s laugh followed him out of the cave.

***

Castiel didn’t make it back home before getting confronted by four of Metatron’s guards in mid-air. He looked around in confusion as they pulled their blades on him.  “It’s me, Castiel.  Brothers, what seems to be the problem here?” 

“You’re under arrest, you are to come quietly,”  one of the men spoke.  Before Cass could respond his hands were being shoved behind him and roughly tied.

“What is this about?”  he asked again, his heart rate rising quickly in panic; did they know?  They started to lead him back home, but he resisted, pushing back and beating his wings, sending all four of them a foot or so backwards. 

“I said what is this about!?”  he demanded once more.  Then one of them was behind him and grabbed him by the hair.

“You know what, you filthy whore.”  Electrifying pain shot through his wings and he found himself paralyzed in midair, being physically carried by the four Valkaries back home. 

_They know,_  he thought in dismay.  Out of the corner of his eye another guard passed them, briefly asking which way he had come from.  _They’re going to kill Dean!”_ He realized in horror. Closing his eyes, he focused all of his strength on reaching out to Dean’s mind.  _They know, they’re going to kill you.  Dean RUN.”_ He repeated over and over, hoping to Odin that Dean could hear him.  Next thing he knew he was standing in front of his King, Metatron, his hands cuffed and tied to his wings so he couldn’t use them.  He saw Gabriel sitting off to the side; he looked horrible.

_They must have tortured it out of him._  Gabe, who was chained and gagged, gave him a sad sorry look.  Castiel smiled at him reassuringly, letting him know that all was forgiven. Then his oldest brother and Metatrons right hand man, Lucifer, stepped forward with a smirk. 

“Our dear brother here has been telling some pretty…nasty stories about you Cassie,”  he hissed, emphasizing the word nasty. 

Castiel took a steadying breath; if he was careful maybe he could talk his way out of this.  “Lucifer, you and I both know about Gabriel’s imaginative mind; stories are his favorite thing in the world.” 

Lucifer threw his head back in laughter.  “Did ya hear that Gabe, aw that’s just precious.”  He chuckled, turning back to Castiel after glancing at Gabriel and putting his face not an inch from his.  “Do you know what the penalty is for lying with a human Castiel?”  he cooed, running his fingers down the very obvious bruises on his neck that Dean had made only hours earlier.

“Of course I do,”  he whispered, trying his hardest not to break; but his confidence was quickly diminishing. 

“Well, tell us then!”  Lucifer announced, stepping back and spreading his arms to everyone in the room.  “Tell us how you thought that defiling yourself with a mud monkey was worth getting clipped, dolored and banished!”  Castiel was shaking now, he couldn’t help it; he was terrified. 

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about; it is insane to believe a wild tale about me and a human that my brother fictitiously made up, and you know it,”  he stated, almost convincing himself, almost.  There was an exasperated sigh from the throne, coming from the one currently seated on it, his legs dangling in the air because they were too short to reach the floor.

“As much as I love a good interrogation, I love watching the sentence more, so why don’t we just take the truth for ourselves and get on with it?”  Hopping off of his chair, Metatron trotted up to Castiel with a smug smile on his face that made you want to punch him square in the nose.  Cass glared at him, not breaking eye contact for a second even though he had never been so scared in his life.  Then the worst happened.  Metatron reached up and dug his taloned fingers into the sides of Castiels head.

  Excruciating pain shot through him, ripping a ragged scream from his throat.  There was Dean; the first time that they had kissed.  There he was when he first let him preen his wings for him, the first time that they had made love, he was seeing it, everything. 

“Do you admit it now?”  Metatron’s voice floated somewhere in his head.  Around Deans half lidded smile. 

“No!”  he screamed, more of from the horror of Metatron seeing his memories then defiance.  Then he knew that Lucifer was seeing the same thing, then everyone in the room, they were all being given front row seats to his most private memories.  “FAMALS! FAMALSFAMALSFAMALS!!”  He screamed over and over, begging him it to stop, and it did.  He found himself lying on the floor, his wings crumpled beneath him, staring up at Metatron’s smug little face. 

“If you would’ve just admitted it in the first place no one would’ve had to witness that…”  his face scrunched up in disgust.  “You know I don’t even know what to call that.”  Cass could feel everyone’s eyes boring into him and it was too much.  Rolling onto his side he vomited right on the tiled floor, for everyone to see.  Then he was being pulled to his feet, his legs would barley hold him and he swayed slightly.  Metatron was still standing in front of him, looking almost bored.

“So.”  He yawned.  “Is everyone in agreement to start the clipping?”  Everyone agreed, and Cass had to fight hard to keep his feet under him.  Two Valkarie were grabbing onto him, but if this really was it, if this was the end, he had to at least try to ask.

“Wait.”  He pled, struggling against his escorts.  “Metatron please; could I-please let me-“  he stumbled over his words, being almost overcome with emotion as Metatron stared at him.

“C’mon, spit it out; could you what?”  He sighed, folding his arms across his chest. 

“Let-let me say goodbye, please.  To Dean.  Grant me that, then you can do whatever you want with me, just let me-“  his voice broke, and the next words came out close to a sob.  “see him one last time.” 

Metatron stared at him in surprise.  “Well, no one has ever asked this before.” 

Elated that he hadn’t just said no from the start, Cass pressed on, tears openly streaming down his face.  “I made a promise, I told him I would always come back, that I would never leave.  I c- I can’t break that promise, I need to tell him, I need to s-, say I’m sorry.” 

“Aw, that’s actually pretty sweet.”  Metatron smiled, wiping fake tears from his eyes, and in that moment Cass knew that he was wasting his time.  “Sorry Castiel, your bitch is most likely already dead.”  Metatron shrugged.  Something in the way he spoke, in those fat, squinty eyes of his, the amount of pure uncaring that was practically coming off of him in waves, snapped something in Castiel, and he found himself shrugging off his escorts and round kicking the son of a bitch in the gut, then tripping him, he smashed his foot into Metatrons face as hard as he could. 

“You bastard, I have always hated you Metatron, from the very moment you cheated your way onto this throne.  You are a no good, lying, cheapskate who can think of no one but himself, and I am glad that I don’t have to deal with your cowardly ways anymore!”  He practically screamed as he was again detained by the two Valkarie. 

“My lord!”  Lucifer exclaimed, rushing over and healing Metatrons face immediately, which was sporting a marvelous looking broken nose.  His brother then turned on him, a look of utter loathing on his face, and Castiel braced himself for the blows he was sure were coming, but Metatron stopped him as he raised his fist.

“Lucifer, wait.”  He commanded and his brother stopped, looking at him in confusion.  “There’s no need for that; he’ll get what’s coming to him soon enough.” Metatron seethed, glaring at Cass.  “Take him away.”  And Cass found himself being dragged away to the castle’s prison to await his doom.


	14. Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cass has to endure the repercussions of being with Dean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter is extremely graphic, where the tags of violence and rape come in, so if you don't want to see those things, just go ahead and skip this chapter.

Cass was stripped naked and thrown into a cell for over an hour, just so everyone could gather to watch.  It wasn’t a choice, it was mandatory.  A kind of sick warning for all others not to make the same mistake; but most enjoyed watching.  It was fun for them. 

Cass  huddled in the corner of the cell. His hands were untied but his wings were still bound painfully and he longed to stretch them.  Of course half of them were going to be gone within the hour.  But his thoughts weren’t on the clipping, he tried over and over to contact Dean, to see if he was alive, but he couldn’t get a thing.  Naturally he assumed the worst.  They had caught him, he was dead.  And it was all his fault.  The thought of his Irvan being dead hurt more than anything his brothers were about to do to him.  After an excruciating 2 hours three came for him. 

“It’s time for your haircut,”  one of them laughed, pulling him to his feet and tying his hands behind him once more so he couldn’t cover himself.  Another, an obnoxious looking blonde, stepped up to him and shoved him against the wall. 

“I’m so jealous Cass, I’ve always been madly in love with you, why couldn’t it have been me?”  he mocked, grabbing Cass’s length with his gloved hand and squeezing a little too hard. 

“C’mon Emrys, stop playing around,”  the third said.  Emrys rolled his eyes and let go.

“Whatever, fun killer.  You could’ve at least let me fuck him.”  Castiel let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he had been holding.

It was more terrible than he had imagined.  Everyone he had ever known was yelling vulgarities and shouting at him.  By the time they got him to the little stage they used for clipping, he was half covered in spit and some other questionable substances.  He was pressed against the floor face down and one of his wings was stretched out painfully and pinned down by rough hands and knees.  He tried yanking it out of their grasp instinctively, but it was no use, too many hands were holding him down.  He saw the blade out of the corner of his eye and squeezed his eyes shut.

Silent tears ran down his face as he felt the thing hacking away at his wing.  What he loved the most about himself, the pride and joy of all Valkarie, his wonderful wings were being cut back; he was being crippled.  As they sawed at the other wing he couldn’t help but let out a painful keening of utter despair. 

Before he could stop it, he was sending out thoughts to Dean, desperately needing some sort of comfort.  _Dean help me, please; make them stop.  Where are you, answer me, please, please…._   He found himself pleading, praying Deans name over and over again, but he never did get a response.  _Because he’s dead you idiot._   He thought to himself.  Nevertheless he kept praying to his Irvan.  He must have spoken out loud at some point because Emrys spoke up, more of ripping than cutting at a particular sensitive spot on his wings. 

“Dean isn’t here you dumbass, you’ll never see that thing again.  No one is coming to save you, least of all Dean because guess what?”  He leaned in and whispered into Cass’s ear softly.  “I killed him myself, personally.”

A surge of rage ripped through Cass’s chest, but he was too well contained to even move a little bit, and that frustrated him even more.  “You monster.”  He seethed, trying to see Deans killers face out of the corner of his eye.  He heard Emrys chuckle and then press his foot into the side of Cass’s face as he addressed crowd.

“Hey, who wants to see me fuck the human’s bitch?”  He yelled.  There was a roar of approval as his now useless and bruised wings were bound back up.  The foot disappeared from his face and he felt cold hands forcing his legs into a kneeling position.  Another surge of hatred flitted through him as Emrys smacked his ass painfully and he kicked out with his heel, feeling a twinge of satisfaction as he felt it collide with Emrys’s nuts.  The crowd roared with laughter. 

“Uhg, you bastard,”  Emrys seethed after he had recovered.  Taking his talons he raked them down the length of Cass’s back and ass, then down the insides of his thighs, shredding the sensitive skin. Cass had to bite back a groan of pain but didn’t make a sound.  Emrys’ foot connected with Cass’ own groin then, white hot pain overtaking everything for a minute. 

He felt the hard tip of Emrys’s cock against his entrance and realized that the sicko had been getting off on this, on hurting him.  He tried to relax, but it still hurt like hell as Emrys pushed into him forcefully without any lubricant.  As he started pounding in to him mercilessly Cass had to bite his lip to keep from screaming.  He felt a trickle of blood run down his chin and realized he had bit his lip so hard that he was bleeding.  To make matters worse Emrys kept on pinching and pulling at his balls, hurting him even more.  After what seemed like an eternity Emrys quickly pulled out and spilled his release all over Cass, the thick liquid stinging into his cuts.  At that moment everything became too much, the noise, the pain, everything and he felt himself slipping into darkness which he gladly welcomed.

***

Dean had just finished getting dressed and was heading back home when his head exploded with pain.  Clutching at his hair, he fell to his knees.  There was so much fear and urgency, and then he recognized four words above all the emotion: T _hey know. Dean. RUN._   The word run practically split his head open, and then slowly the pain subsided, leaving him panting for breath.  As soon as he could, he sprang into action, grabbing some left over chain that was still lying around and setting his bag against a nearby tree. 

He positioned himself deep in the bushes, chain in hand, and waited.  He had no doubt that had been Castiel.  His people had found out about them and they were coming for him, probably to kill him.  If Cass thought he was really going to run though he better thing twice.  If even just letting a human touch you was frowned upon by his people, he couldn’t imagine what they would do to someone that had fallen in love with a human.  It couldn’t be anything good, and he had one thing in mind now.  Get up there somehow and save his Irvan from whatever fate awaited him. 

To get up to Idavoll (E-tha-voll), he would need to know how, and the only way to know how without flying up there was to talk to a Valkarie.  Good news for him, apparently they were sending him his own personal escort; he just hoped there weren’t too many of them.  He swallowed thickly as it dawned on him that they might be sending more than one.  It was too late to do anything now though, so he crouched, barley breathing and still as a rock. 

In no time at all he heard a rustle of wings and a Valkarie appeared right next to the blanket him and Cass had used for a bed the night before.  He had short brown hair, and tawny looking wings.  Ever since Dean had laid eyes on Cass’ wings, he had realized how big they were, even compared to all the rest he had seen; and easily the most beautiful of course, there was just no contest. 

The Valkarie walked over to Dean’s pack that he had purposefully set against the tree.  He held his breath until the guys back was to him and then sprang into action, roping the chains around the wings with practiced ease so he couldn’t fly off.  The man spun around with a surprised shout, lashing out with a long steel sword that Dean hadn’t noticed before.  He barely managed to dodge the blade before it could slice him open from chest to abdomen.  He yanked on the chain, it took his whole body weight and then some to pull the guy close to him but he managed it and tackled him, trying to get that sword away before it could skewer him.  The man was yelling curses at him in Enochian, some of which Dean now recognized. 

He managed to get the sword away, but lost his grip on the chain in the process; that was when he started to think he might have made a mistake.  The man freed one of his hands and yanked Dean off, hooking his talons deep into his side.  Brushing away the fiery pain that shot up his chest, he scrambled to his feet as the Valkarie reached to retrieve his sword.  Dean jumped onto his back in between the wings, wrapping his arms firmly around the guys neck.  He gritted his teeth, trying not to scream as the man clawed at him frantically.  He was ripping his back up pretty badly and his side stung like a mother; but he knew he was a dead man if he let go.  Then he was being slammed into a tree, the air was knocked out of him and he had no idea how he managed to keep hold of the guy’s neck.  Finally, the man fell to his knees, gasping for breath and weakly clawing at Deans arms, leaving long red scrapes in their wake before he slumped to the ground, out cold. 

Trying to ignore the pain in his back, side, and arms, he tied his hostage up against a tree.  Only when he was sure he was secure did he tend to his injuries.  They weren’t too deep, except the one in his side.  Blood was pouring out of that one at an alarming rate, and he had already lost way too much.  He pressed his hands against the wound, leaning against a boulder and cursing his carelessness.  The trees above him swam, and he struggled to stay conscious.  He couldn’t black out now; if he did he would die, and then who knows what would happen to Cass.  Nevertheless he couldn’t fight the oncoming tide of blackness hard enough, and the last thing he remembered was feeling electrifying panic and fear; he realized in concern that it wasn’t his own.

***

When Castiel regained consciousness the first intake of breath was pain.  He struggled to sit up, but quickly abandoned that as his whole backside was scraped up.  He settled on his side, propping himself up on his elbow.  He was back in that cold dark cell and he could barely see the stars shining faintly through the window.  Otherwise it was pitch black.  His wings, no longer bound, screamed at the slightest movement he made.  He managed to pull his right one over his shoulder, thinking to use it as a blanket, but it only covered down to his waist.  Fresh tears stung his eyes as he felt the jagged, sometimes ripped edges of his primary feathers and he didn’t even try to hold in his grief.  Heavy sobs racked his body and his wails bounced off the walls.  To him, being crippled like this was worse than death, and he knew what was coming next would be even worse.  He was seriously considering sticking one of his talons into his heart, just ending his suffering now, but he couldn’t quite get himself to do it. 

He found himself thinking of Dean, and tried to lose himself in memories, cradling his head in the crook of his arm.  The way the corners of his eyes scrunched up when he laughed, those shamrock green eyes that sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight and sent butterflies dancing in his heart and stomach.  Him trying to learn Enochian, the way he awkwardly stumbled over the words, sometimes slaughtering them in the most beautiful way possible. Closing his eyes he focused only on those eyes and that deep grindy voice until he fell into a light sleep; rich with freckled skin and soft pliable bowlegs.

***

All too soon he was being shoved to his feet once again, and he cried out at the soreness in his body.  He wasn’t at all sure if he could even walk, Emrys had left him hurting so bad.  Hands once again tied behind his back, he was herded, stumbling and whimpering to the front of Metatron’s castle, where four long chains hung, each with sharp hooks on the end.  While he peered at the hooks in meek trepidation, Metatron appeared in front of him. 

“Hello Castiel; I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s festivities as much as the rest of us.”  Cass just stared at him with a blank expression. 

“You know what my favorite part about these things are?” 

Silence.

“When I talk to them in my throne room, their eyes are always so bright with fight and defiance.  My favorite part is seeing that fight slowly leave there eyes until there’s nothing left.  Like yours are right now.”  Cass drug his eyes down to study the stone beneath their feet. 

“Oh, don’t be like that; maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll come off fast.”  Metatron spoke, patting him on the shoulder and making him wince. 

Doloring.  When the Valkarie is hung by only their wings; one hook is tucked under the humerous bone, the main one closest to the shoulder blade.  The second is hooked under the carpals, a bundle of nerves under the alula feathers.  Weights are added to the feet every day until one of three things happen.  Either the hooks tear through the wings, the person suffocates from the pressure on their lungs, or the wings tear off completely from their back. 

He was turned around and pushed roughly against the wall.  He didn’t even try to stifle his cries as the sharp edges of the hooks were stabbed through him.  The areas they were putting those hooks in were, apart from the testicles, the most sensitive part of the body, and it felt worse than having a needle pushed slowly through your eye. 

“All right, take him up.”  Emrys, said.  Even he didn’t look very happy about what he was doing, and he had raped Cass in front of the whole village.  Cass wanted to plead, to beg them not to do this, but he wouldn’t let himself.  They may have broken him in every way possible, but he wouldn’t go to his death begging; he just wouldn’t.  The chains started to lift, pulling first his wings, and then him with it until he was suspended in the air. 

If he had thought that it hurt getting hooked on, it didn’t compare to the agony that was ripping through him now.  The most sensitive parts of him were holding his entire weight, and he lost it.  The shrieks that filled the air were inhuman, even for a Valkarie.  Long mangled screams that started from the base of his stomach and were viciously shredded out through his mouth in a never ending chain; like wood grinding through a wood chipper.  He tried to lessen the weight instinctively by pressing his feet against the wall and pushing upwards, which worked until his feet would slip. 

Early into the afternoon, after screaming himself hoarse, it seemed that his wings were growing numb.  He laid his head back against the rock, gasping softly.  The pressure from his wings and his hands being tied behind his back were starting to take their toll on his lungs, and he had to fight for every breath.  As he hung there waiting for the inevitable, hoping beyond hope that his lungs would just burst and this hell would be over; he had a small thought.  Gazing up at the clear blue sky above his head, the skies that he used to soar effortlessly through, he found himself wishing that they were not blue at all, but green.


	15. I'll Walk Through Hell With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean struggles to find a way up to rescue his Irvan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The warning from last chapter applies to this one as well, although it's definitely in smaller amounts. This is the last REALLY hard chapter, so hold on guys! Remember I promised a fairytale ending! :)

Dean’s dreams were full of pain and disturbing images.  He stood on some sort of a stage, only everything was out of focus and blurry.  Incessant noises were muffled and garbled, except one single, crystal clear image and sound: five feet away, someone was holding Cass down and sawing at his wings.  Dean’s heart dropped and he tried to yell, tried  to run over and stab the bastard in the throat, but his limbs felt like lead.  He was stuck in place, forced to watch the guy cut those magnificent wings to shreds.  No matter how much he yelled, he couldn’t see Cass’s face; he just felt the humiliation and pain that was rolling off his Valkarie in waves.  Then, to his horror, the Valkarie holding him picked Cass’s hips up, forcing him onto his knees, and started to rape him viciously.  Dean screamed soundlessly and struggled with everything he had, but he was helpless.  He thought he heard someone calling him behind his love’s cries of pain, but he ignored it and focused on trying to move his legs.

“Dean.”  The voice was growing louder by the second.  “Dean; Dean wake up!”  He knew that voice; how did he know that voice?  “DEAN!” 

“S-Sammy?”  he muttered, blinking his eyes open in a daze.  He was laying down, his head propped up by his bag. A very worried looking Sam hovered over him.

“Thank Odin, I was worried you were gonna tear your stitches.”  As Sammy’s face came into focus, the feelings from the dream slowly disappeared.

“It’s a good thing I found you when I did, or you would be gone,”  Sam was saying.  It was only then Dean noticed that they were still in the clearing where he had fought the Valkarie. 

“Sam, what are you doing here?”  he mumbled, trying to sit up.  “It’s not sa-Ah!”  He gasped in pain as Sam helped him to lie back down. 

“Well duh it’s not safe; you were out here all night alone; I had to stitch up your side all by myself.”

Dean removed the blanket that had been lying across his bare chest to reveal a badly done stitch job.  He smiled. 

“It’s beautiful Sammy, you should become a cleric.”  Sams eyes lit up. 

“Really!?” 

“No,”  Dean responded, setting his head back down and rubbing his face. 

“Who’s Castiel?”  The question caught him off guard.

“What?”  His heart started pounding against his ribs.

“You were shouting the name Castiel in your sleep, but I’ve never heard of someone with such a weird name in the village.”  Dean closed his eyes, recalling his dream grimly.  He hoped to Odin that it wasn’t really happening, that it was just his fevered over paranoid mind making things up.

“Did you really tie that Valkarie up over there?”  Sam asked.  Dean’s eyes snapped open.  Looking to his left the brown haired Valkarie that he had strangled sat very much tied and gagged against the tree, glaring at the both of them.  Moving slowly this time, he sat up, careful not to rip any of his stitches. 

Ignoring his brother’s pleas to stay lying down he walked slowly over to his prisoner, picking up the sword as he went.  He pulled the gag out of his mouth and pressed the sharp edge of the blade to his throat.

“Where is Castiel?”  he demanded in a low growl.  According to Cass, everyone is taught the gist of the English language, and so he was confident that this guy would understand him.  He replied in Enochian, but Dean didn’t understand any of it.  He pressed the knife slightly into the soft flesh, a small trickle of blood ran down into the man’s shirt.  “English,”  Dean spat.  “Where is Castiel?” 

“Probably dead by now,”  he sneered in broken English.

“What do you mean?”  Dean asked, trying to bite back the panic fluttering around in his throat.

“Gal Na Drux graphes van?”  The man spoke.  Dean stared at him, thinking hard.

“What did he not tell me?”  he asked hesitantly. He thought he saw a flicker of surprise, almost praise in the Valkaries eyes; apparently he didn’t think he would be able to understand him. 

“Punishment for lying with a mud monkey.  Vehurdux, Galurged, un Padrux.” 

“English!”  Dean bellowed, his patience almost gone. 

“Torture, you filthy pig; I don’t know the words,”  the Valkarie snapped.  “Cut wings, hang, your Castiel is Famvehdon.” 

In that moment Dean realized that his dream might have very well been real.  “How do I get up there?” 

“I don’t understand.”

Dean looked him in the eyes and pointed to the sky.  “Up, how!?”  The Valkarie looked in the direction he was pointing, looked back at him with what could only be a “are you kidding me?”  face and burst into laughter.

“Un Vatal, Gon Ithavell!”  _A human, in Ithavell!_ He laughed harder.  His laughter was cut off as Dean slashed the sword across his chest. 

“How!?” 

“No way.”  The Valkarie seethed between his teeth. 

“Yea, I don’t think you quite understand the situation you’re in.”  He grabbed one of the tawny wings and held the sword to the soft membrane, earning a string of curses that ended with a wad of spit in his face.  He wiped it away calmly, thinking hard of how to say what he wanted to so this bastard could understand.

“Gisgraph ur Na med gisgmed ged med Ithavall, un gonur talveh gan orunfam.”  It was really rough, but the message got across.  He could tell by the fear in his prisoners eyes.  _Tell me how to get to Ithavell, and I’ll make it fast.”_

“Only way flight,”  he said softly as he eyed the blade. 

“Then fly me up there dammit!” 

“Too heavy!” 

Just then Deans head exploded much like it had when Cass had told him to run, only this time there were no words and the pain was worse.  Screaming and clutching at his head, he dropped the sword and fell to his knees.  Sam rushed over, shouting his name in a panic.  The pain become too much and darkness overtook him once again.

***

When he awoke the sun was pretty much at the same place it had been when he had passed out, and he was back on the homemade cot his brother had made for him.  “Cass?”  he muttered, starting to sit up.  Firm hands pushed him back down.

“So help me, I will tie you up if I have to.  You were out for a whole day this time, and you are not going to overdo it again.”  Sammy said, trying to mimic their father’s stern tone.  “You ripped half of your stitches out as well so nice going.”  Dean groaned at the pain still echoing through his head.  He knew it belonged to his Irvan.  He also knew that there was no way to get to him unless by some miracle he sprouted wings. 

_Two days,_ he thought in dismay.  It had been two days since Castiel had left.  A lot could happen in two days, and judging by all the fear and pain he had been feeling, a lot was happening.  And he was as powerless to stop it as in his dreams.  Biting back his tears, he slowly sat up.

“I’m not going anywhere,”  he said when Sam tried to push him back down again.  He glanced over to his prisoner and to his alarm; the Valkarie was dead with the sword sticking out of his chest. 

“It was getting loose and I panicked,”  Sam explained sheepishly.  “Technically it’s your kill, so you can have the wings.”  Dean stared into his brother’s face for a minute before responding.

“We’re not taking HIS wings Sam; in fact, I’m going to get rid of the ones in my room.”  Sam looked down at the ground, as if he knew this was coming.

“Castiel is a Valkarie huh?”

 Dean nodded. “They’re no different from us; Cass taught me that.”

Sam gazed at him before stating, “You love her.”  Dean nodded.

“Yea, I love _him_.”  He braced himself for whatever Sam was going to say next.  Something like “No brother of mine is going to be in love with an animal” or “You’re both guys, that’s disgusting!”  He wasn’t expecting what he really said at all.

“Do you think he’ll like me?”  Sam asked in a small voice.  Relief rushed through Dean and he reached over and ruffled his little brother’s hair with a small chuckle. 

“Of course he’ll like you Sammy.  If he didn’t we’d have a problem; you’re my brother after all.”   Dean sat back against the tree behind him and gazed up at the clouds above his head.  If he couldn’t physically get up there, at least he could try mentally.  Closing his eyes he concentrated as hard as he could, just like Cass had taught him, reaching out to his Irvan’s mind.  He had never been able to pull this off before, but there was a first time for everything, right?

_Cass?_ He called gently, relaxing every muscle in his body.  _Castiel, I’m here; can you hear me?”_   he repeated it over and over again, searching for any sign of an answer.  Finally after a solid few minutes he more of felt the response than heard it. 

_Dean?_ it was a question, asked weakly, like a small paper fluttering in the wind.  Soft and distant. 

_Cass, I’m here; I gotcha, you’re gonna be alright_.  He pushed the words through, tears rolling down his face freely. 

_D-Dean….help_ … The voice was ash, flaking off and being smudged between his eyelids.  A sob escaped his throat, and he searched for the right words to say. 

_Un Fam Ganurr, Na med Irvan, na med_.  ( _All will be well, hold on my love, hold on.)_   He fed the words through his mind like soft sunshine, tucking the warmth around them and smoothing them out.  He didn’t know how long they sat there, just finding solace in each other’s presence.  It could’ve been a hundred lifetimes for all he knew.  Then it was abruptly cut off by a harsh shriek from his Valkarie and the connection was pushed away by Cass, leaving Dean’s mind bare and in shock.

***

Cass didn’t know how, but Dean was alive. He was alive and talking to his mind, and his heart leapt with joy.  As Dean told him to hold on in broken Enochian, all his pain seemed to disappear into a bed of warm sunshine and he smiled faintly. He was faintly aware of someone touching his feet, but he ignored it, not wanting to let the comfort he was finally feeling go.  He was forced to do just that though as a weight appeared on his feet, and he hastily shoved the connection away so Dean wouldn’t have to feel his agony.  The screams were basically nonexistent at this point, his voice raw when he could hear it.  He could feel it happening; could feel his wings physically being slowly torn from his back.  Something warm was running down his back and legs and he looked down to see small streams of blood decorating his thighs and calves.  He felt his sanity starting to slip away, dripping from him in the form of his blood, and the town in front of him became warped and twisted. 

That night was the worst.  Visions of what had been happening to him danced around his head, interrupted occasionally by nightmares of his brothers catching and tearing Dean apart in front of his eyes.  Thirsty, he was so thirsty; his mouth felt like cotton balls.  He felt like there were fire ants eating away at his throat, crawling down into his lungs and settling there in hoards, suffocating him.

When the sun rose again and he felt movement at his ankles, breaking the blood that had dried there, he groaned.  He couldn’t take anymore; this was surely going to be his last day alive.  The second weight was added and he let out more voiceless screams as his wings were ripped off a bit more.  Then he felt the hooks closest to his back rip through the soft tissue between his bones, leaving him hanging by the outer parts of his wings.  It was like lightning had erupted in his mind and all he could see was red, felt it buzzing in his ears as he started to convulse.  He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t _anything._   He was trapped and paralyzed in his own mind. After a lifetime passed, more pain flared in his wings and he was falling, falling, falling. Until he hit something hard and everything faded.


	16. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys are finally reunited again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit late on Saturday, I know, but here ya go; let the chaos continue! And I'm gonna just say this again, remember there's a happy ending lol

Dean picked his way through the forest, in the direction that he knew Cass’s home was.  Sam had tried to get him to go back to the village so there cleric could look at his now infected wound, but he had refused.  So naturally Sam was tagging along behind him.  When Dean had told him to go home he had stubbornly shaken his head.

“You’re gonna rip out your stitches again, and if I’m not there to save you who will be?”  Sam had said, and Dean didn’t argue; he didn’t have time.  He had to find a way up to those damn mountains, and fast.  He could see the clouds above him, hiding the ones that were torturing his Valkarie. 

“Not for long,”  he mumbled, but the world wouldn’t cooperate with him.  It kept on moving under his feet, and he struggled to keep his balance. 

“Let’s just sit and think about this for a minute, okay?”  Sam called as he helped Dean sit back against a tree.

“I need to get up there,” Dean muttered as he pointed upwards.

“Of course you do but you also need a plan and your full strength before throwing yourself into enemy territory, don’t you?”

“Well…yea.”  Dean couldn’t argue with that.

“Then let’s just sit and build up your strength, then we can come up with a plan okay?”  For the third time since Cass had left, Deans sub consciousness overtook him without his permission, and again he fell into nightmare.

***

“Dean, Dean wake up, something just fell out of the sky!”  He was jolted awake by Sam’s urgent voice.  He blinked against the rising sun that stung his eyes, trying to shake away the nightmares that had plagued him all night. 

“What are you talking about?”  He mumbled.

“Something fell out of the sky!  I could’ve sworn it was a Valkarie Dean.  There was a big crash over there and someone shouted something.  I didn’t understand but it sure sounded like a curse word.”  A Valkarie falling out of the sky?  It was a slim chance, but he had to make sure that hadn’t been HIS Valkarie.  Maybe he could get whoever is was to help him get up to Cass’s home.  It was worth a try anyway. 

“Which way?”  he asked as he climbed to his feet, holding his wound against the sharp pain.  Icky green puss was leaking from it now. _The infection is worse, shit_.  He hid it from Sam as best as he could as he followed his brother towards the place he indicated.

In only a few minutes he came upon a Valkarie sitting on the ground, holding someone in his arms. He had golden brown hair and bright lion-mane colored wings that shone with a golden radiance in the sunlight.  He heard a rapid intake of breath from Sam next to him at the sight.

“Gabriel?”  Dean muttered in surprise.  In one swift motion Gabe spun around on one knee, a steel blade coming out of nowhere. 

“Who’s there?”  he snarled.  Dean and his brother were still in the shadows.  Gabe’s whiskey colored eyes sparkled with tears, and his face was covered with them.  Dean stepped out into the light.

“It’s me, Dean.” His gaze fell to the form in Gabe’s arms.  All he could see were the man’s legs and lower abdomen, Gabe was hiding the rest with his body.  The legs were caked with dried blood.  He stepped closer as realization crawled into his heart and squeezed hard.

“Cass?”  he whispered.  Gabe didn’t say anything, just dropped the knife and cradled his unconscious brother closer.  Dean dropped to his knees in front of him, staring in open horror at his Irvan.  Deep cuts dug into his wrists, the skin rubbed raw almost down to the bone in some places.  His chest and stomach were black and blue, completely swollen.  He reached out to touch his face but Gabe tucked him under his chin with a glare. 

“You did this to him,”  he spoke angrily.  Dean pulled his hand back as if he’d been bit.  When Gabe had moved his brother he had revealed his back.  There were red scrapes running down the length of his back, but what drew his attention were his wings.  He hadn’t even noticed them until now, lying limp over the forest floor.  There were deep gashes where Dean used to stroke them, the parts that had elicited some of his favorite groans from the Valkarie.  Half of the wing he could see was missing; almost all of his primary feathers were gone.  But it was what he saw last that sent him crawling away (his legs wouldn’t hold him) to vomit up his meal from yesterday.  The wings were still attached, but just barely.  The scapula and Coracoid bones that were supposed to be under the skin and attached to the shoulder blade had been halfway torn out, so you could see a good part of the muscle.  After he was done relieving himself of his meal, he crawled back over and looked at Gabe in desperation.

“Is he…”  His voice trailed off, he couldn’t quite get himself to say the word.  Gabe shook his head once.

“Heal him then!”  he pleaded. 

“I can’t.”  Gabe ground his jaw.

“Why?” 

“Because when Metatron tortured me he put a block on my healing abilities; I can feel it wearing off but it’s not enough yet.”  Just then Cass started to cough, deep phlegm filled coughs that sent his whole body convulsing.  Gabe turned him on his side with his head in his lap as Cass coughed up a mixture of gunk and blood. 

“We have a camp back a ways, let me take him there,”  Dean said as he wiped his face with his hands.

“You don’t touch him,”  Gabe snarled lowly.  Dean sighed and stood.  _Fair enough, he had been the one to get Cass into this mess in the first place._

As Gabe was gathering the broken Valkarie in his arms Cass’s eyes blinked open slowly. 

“Gabe?”  It was mouthed, he didn’t have any voice left.

“Hey Cassie,”  Gabe sniffed, cradling his brothers head in his hands.  “Guess what?  It’s over; I’m gonna take care of you now, get you all healed up k?”  Cass’s gaze slowly turned to Dean, who was standing above him.  His clouded blue eyes grew wide.

“D-Dean!”  he  rasped, struggling to get his hands under him to sit up.  Dean knelt by him once more.

“Woah, easy there,”  he soothed as Cass started coughing again.  He wasn’t going to rest until he was in Deans arm’s, so Gabe reluctantly handed him over.

“Don’t sit him up, his lungs could collapse,”  Gabe warned.  Dean cradled Cass in his arms, pressing his forehead to the other man’s gently and looking into his faded eyes. 

“Nah med, Irvan,”  Dean whispered.

“Hello Dean,”  Cass mouthed back, smiling weakly.

“You’re gonna be just fine, do you believe me?”  Cass nodded once, not breaking eye contact.

“I-held on-for you,” Cass whispered before breaking into a fit of coughing once again.  A sob escaped Dean’s throat as he helped him through his fit; which sent him back into unconsciousness. 

“Just hold on a little longer,”  he whispered, kissing Cass lightly on the forehead.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150869015@N08/41463580701/in/dateposted/)

***

Pain; everything was pain.  Cass tried to moan but no sound would come out as he slowly drug his eyes open, even though his whole head screamed in protest at the bright sunlight that met his eyes.  He wondered how in the world he was still alive, and at the moment he really wished that he wasn’t.  He remembered waking up in Gabe’s arms, and then seeing Dean, but that was about it. 

He lay sideways on some blankets, his head propped up on a pillow.  From that view he could see the grass and the trees, hear birds singing in there green depths. 

_Must be about midday._   He tried to move and then instantly regretted it as his whole body screamed in protest, sending him into a painful hacking coughing fit.  Someone appeared behind him, lifting him onto their lap so he could breathe a bit easier.  He didn’t need to see him to know who it was. 

“Dean,”  his voice was a grating whisper. 

“Shh, I gotcha, you’re alright.”  He heard Deans low soothing voice and relaxed a bit, and then something dawned on him.  Dean was sitting behind him, _right_ behind him. He should be able to feel his wings against him in that position, but he didn’t.  In fact, he felt a whole lot of nothing, only a bit of an ache in his shoulders. 

_No_ , he thought in horror, his mind jumping to the worst conclusion. No, he was delirious, he wasn’t feeling things right at all, that’s why he couldn’t feel his wings; that HAD to be why.  Even so he had to make sure.  He struggled to sit up on his elbow, much to Deans displeasure. 

“Cass, don’t move; _please_ don’t move,”  Dean was pleading. 

He couldn’t feel their weight, making his body feel foreign. It made him panic even more.  He managed to get his left hand over his shoulder and all he felt on his shoulder blades were bandages. 

“No,”  he choked on the word and the ground swayed beneath him. 

“Easy Cass,”  Dean’s worried voice called again.  Dean set him down and appeared in his line of sight.

“What…happened?”  he managed to scrape it out of his raw throat.  Dean frowned at him.

“It was too much; you were gonna die Cass.  We had no other choice.”  Cass stared openly at him; his sad tired face, wrinkled brow and sunken red eyes.  He had been crying.  Dean reached out his hand to place over Cass’s but he smacked it away.

“Then you should’ve let me die!”  he screamed, his voice sounded like nails scraping across a blackboard.  This sent him into another coughing fit, but when Dean tried to help, he shoved him away weakly.  “Don’t…you…touch me,”  he choked out, speaking in Enochian.

“Cass, please.”  Dean spoke brokenly as he was struggling to sit up on his own.  Then his eyes caught sight of something laying a little ways away from him.  Two somethings actually.  They were huge and feathery and midnight black.  Although most of them were stained with blood and had feathers sticking out at weird angles.  He knew one thing for certain, they were NOT supposed to be over there.  A moaning cry was ripped from his throat as he cried like a little child, burying his head in Dean’s chest as he hugged him close.

 Gone; his wings were gone.  No more flying, never again would he feel the wind in his feathers or know the freedom of the open sky; never, never again.  His heart hurt so much that he wondered why it didn’t just split in two. 

Then all the sudden Dean was being ripped from his arms.  As Dean yelled in surprise and anger he looked up to see three Valkarie, two struggling to hold Dean and one dragging something with him into the clearing.  Not something, someone; he had golden lion mane wings and was leaving a trail of blood behind him; and he was dead. 

“Gabriel, no!”  Cas screamed as he turned to the Valkarie.  “Why!?”  The one that had just dropped his brother on the ground smirked. 

“Orders; he saved you, such an act cannot be tolerated.  And of course this thing needs to die as well; that’s long overdue.” 

Dean glared at the smirking Valkarie and struggled with all his might. 

“Leave him alone; kill me, but leave him be,”  Cass pleaded.

“I’ve got an idea; how about we just kill both of you and make things easier for everyone?”  the Valkarie responded.

“You fucking leave him alone!”  Dean snarled.  Cass tried his best to get up as a sword was drawn and the tip was pressed to Deans chest, right over his heart, but he only got a few feet before he collapsed, coughing.  He watched helplessly as the blade was driven into his Irvan’s heart, killing him instantly.


	17. On The Edge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Gabe struggle to get Cass stable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONGRATULATIONS! You have made it through the hardest chapters of this story! (Or ARE they???) You're prize is....lot's and lot's of nice, snugly comfort lol. And this one's a bit longer as well so you're welcome.

“Sammy, help me hold him down!”  Dean yelled over his shoulder as he struggled to keep a fever ridden Cass from moving too much and hurting himself even more. Cass kept moaning “No” over and over again, with the occasional “Dean” and “Gabe” thrown in.  Sam appeared and helped to gently restrain the Valkarie.

After Cass had collapsed, Dean had carried his wounded Valkarie to Sammy’s camp.  They made him as comfortable as possible, considering his wings were halfway torn from his back.  It had been two days since they had been reunited, the sun almost below the horizon, and he was getting really worried.  As he and his brother held him down, he felt another pang of anxiety wash over him. 

As soon as Gabe had been able to, he had taken out most of the fluid in Cass’ lungs, but it had proved too much and now Gabe lay unconscious himself a few feet away on his own makeshift bed.  Dean hoped that he would be able to get to Cass’ wings soon.

 _If they can even be saved,_ he thought as Cass finally started to calm down.  Gabe hadn’t given him much of an answer when asked if he could heal them, just a vague “I can try.”

Sammy spoke next to him, drawing him from his thoughts. “Dean, I know you want to ignore this, but we need to do something about your side; it’s getting worse.”  He didn’t look up from gently wiping a damp cloth across Cass’s burning forehead.  He had calmed down, but was still shaking like a leaf and mumbling; caught up in some sort of fever induced nightmare.  He had all the blankets they could spare covering him, yet he was still shivering.

“And what do you purpose we do about it?”  he asked.  Sam heaved a sigh, and Dean didn’t miss the glance his brother shot at Gabriel out of the corner of his eye.

Sam met his gaze levelly. “We just need to go back to the village for a bit; you need a doctor and you’re not gonna let Gabe heal you.  You act like you’re fine, but I know how much pain you’re in right now.” 

Dean dipped the cloth in the bowl of cold water next to him and wrung the water out slowly.  Sam was right of course, he was in a world of pain; but he couldn’t leave Cass.  Not again, never again.  “How about you go get some supplies Sammy; we need more firewood,”  he suggested instead.  Sam sighed again.

“Dean, you can’t take care of him if you don’t take-“ he stopped talking as Gabriel stirred, sitting up from his makeshift bed on the other side of the fire.  For having just slept for over 14 hours he still looked exhausted.  Dean only glanced at Gabe before going back to tending to Cass.  He could hear Sam talking to the Valkarie, but their voices were too low to make out any words. 

“How do you feel Gabe?”  Dean asked after a few minutes as he wiped Cass’ forehead.  “Do you think you could look at his wings now?”  Before he could comprehend what was happening there was a fiery pain in his side and he doubled over, gasping. 

When it was gone he looked down at his now completely healed wound.  “What the Hell!?”  he exclaimed angrily, looking from Gabe to Sam and back again.  “You could’ve used that strength on Cass!”

“I’m too tired to argue; let me see to my brother now,”  Gabe sighed, crouching down next to Cass’s wings.  Dean shot a glare at Sam, who looked down at the ground guiltily. 

“We’re not done,”  Dean spoke firmly, pointing a finger at his brother before crouching next to Gabe. 

“So his wings will be fine right; you can fix them?”  he asked apprehensively. 

“It’s been almost five days and they’ve started trying to heal themselves, but they’re healing wrong,”  Gabe spoke, examining the wings. 

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means damage has been done that can’t be undone.  I’ll do what I can, but I doubt that he will ever be able to fly again.  Maybe if I were stronger, but I can’t heal him fast enough as I am.” 

Dean stared at him dumbly, not believing what he was hearing.  “Not fly again; like, ever?”  He asked, feeling numb.  He remembered how stir crazy Cass had gotten not being able to fly for a little over a month, and tried not to think about how he would react to the words “You’ll never fly again.”  No, he wouldn’t accept it.

“You listen to me,”  he spoke, pointing a finger at the Gabriel.  “You are a Valkarie with healing abilities, and you’re going to heal ALL of him, you understand me?  Not just part, not just most, you heal him all the way so he can fly again.  What’s the use of all this if you don’t?” He barely got the last word out when a sharp pain exploded in his nose as Gabriel’s fist sunk into his face, knocking him onto his back.  In a flash, cold metal was pressed against his neck as Gabriel poised over him with rage in his eyes. 

“Shut up and listen to me, you arrogant dick,” Gabe said in a dangerous voice.  “Don’t you think if there was a sliver of a chance that I could fully heal my brother, I would do it in a heartbeat?  You think I want to see him suffering?  I love him, he took care of me when our parents were dead, killed by your kind, I might add, and big brother Luci was off playing soldier with Metatron.  And guess what; it’s YOUR fault that he got into this mess in the first place; and I still can’t kill you because, heaven knows why, HE’S STILL LOYAL TO YOU!  This is on you, so don’t you dare try to shift the blame when I’m just trying to clean up your damn mess!”

Sam appeared and placed a hand on both of their shoulders.  “Hey guys, calm down okay?  It’s not gonna help anyone if you kill each other.”  They glared at each other for a second more, and then Gabe stood up, putting his blade away and settling back beside Cass.

Dean sat up, rubbing his neck where the blade had dug into the skin a bit, and watched. He could see Gabe’s shoulders shaking as he worked, and a wave of empathy washed over him.

He was such an idiot; of course he was doing the best he could.  As far as he could tell, Gabe loved Cass as much as he loved Sammy, and this was probably torturous to him to have to see his brother so broken, and him having a limit to how much he could help him. 

After a few minutes Sam laid a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.  “That’s enough for now, you look like you’re going to pass out,”  he spoke softly.  Gabe looked over his shoulder and leaned back against a tree with a sigh, wiping at his eyes.

“What do I have to do to get some mutton around here?”  he mumbled with an attempted smile. 

“I still have some dried meat left,”  Sam responded before he eagerly went to fetch some.  Dean wasn’t stupid, he could plainly see that his little brother was smitten with the Valkarie; he just worried about how Gabriel would handle the situation.  He wasn’t all that fond of humans after all.  Castiel twitched and moaned loudly in his sleep, quickly turning his attention back to cleaning his face with the damp cloth.

“None of this is gonna matter if I can’t get his fever down,”  he mumbled, glancing at Gabe as we spoke. 

“It’s a virus, we can’t heal those, okay?”  Gabe sighed, shaking his head.  “Our best bet would be to get his immune system stronger so he can fight it off himself.”  Just then Dean had a thought.

“Wait, how long has it been since he’s eaten anything?  Did they at least feed him before they tortured him?” 

“I don’t know honestly.  I know that they give them food the night before, before doloring, but I would guess that he didn’t eat.  I wouldn’t have after getting my wings chopped up and being raped.”  Dean visibly flinched as he realized his nightmare had most likely been way more real than he had wanted it to be. 

“So if he didn’t eat that night, that means it’s been about 4 or 5 days,”  he realized out loud.

“If he doesn’t wake up soon, he’s going to die,”  Gabe stated bitterly.  Sam interrupted again, returning with meat and a triumphant grin.

“Thank you,”  Gabe said with a small smile, taking the offered food.  There was no mistaking his brother’s blush.  “How old are you anyway?”  Gabe asked.

“Sixteen,”  Sam responded.

Gabe’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?  I thought for sure you were your brother’s age at least; you’re freaking tall!” 

“Yea, when he’s done growing this stink is gonna be the tallest person in the village, I swear.”  Dean grinned proudly. 

“You better believe it.”  Sam shot back with a smirk.  “How’s it gonna feel having a little brother that’s taller than you, huh?” 

“Shut it, I can still whip your ass, no matter how tall you get, and you know it,”  Dean retorted, flicking some water from the bowl at Sam.  Gabriel chuckled. 

“What?”  Sam exclaimed.  “Don’t believe anything he says, I could totally beat him in a wrestling match; I’ve got what, three feet on the guy?” 

“Like hell you do!”  Dean responded. 

“That’s not it; you guys just remind me of Cass and I, that’s all.”  Gabe spoke.  As if on cue Castiel stirred, groaning and blinking his eyes.

“Cass?”  Dean spoke, brushing a strand of hair off of his still burning forehead.

 “D-Dean?”  Cass was staring at him with a panicked look in his still cloudy eyes.

“What?”  Dean asked in concern.

“You’re alive; I-I saw them kill you!”  Cass reached a hand up to slowly stroke Deans face in surprised awe. 

 _It must be the fever._   Dean thought.  Taking hold of the hand that was currently stroking the side of his face, he brought it to his lips and kissed it softly.  “I’m fine Cass.  I’m here, I’m never gonna leave you again, okay?”  Cass’s eyes filled with tears as he nodded.

“I-I was so scared without you,”  he whispered. 

“Shh.”  Dean hushed him softly.  “Like I said, I’m not going anywhere.  You’re safe now, you don’t have to worry.”  Cass relaxed a bit.

 “Good, cause I’m- so- thirsty,”  he said weakly.

“Oh, oh yea, of course,”  Dean jumped up to get some water, but Sam was already standing by him with a flask.

“Do you want me to heat up some of the broth I brought?”  Sam asked as Dean took the flask from him and knelt back down beside Cass.

“Yea; do that would ya; thanks Sammy,”  Dean spoke with a thankful nod.  Cupping his hand under Cass’s head he helped him lift it a bit to get a drink, which he eagerly started gulping.  “Woe, easy there, just a little at a time, okay?  We don’t want you to throw it up.”  Reluctantly Cass slowed, taking small sips.  “How do you feel?”  he asked when he was done. 

“Like hell,”  Cass replied.  “But it’s nice to breathe; thanks for that Gabe,”  he spoke, glancing at his brother, who waved it off.  “The-excruciating pain in my back is telling me I still have my wings, please tell me that’s the case.”  He met Dean’s gaze with overt worry.

“Yes, yes you still have your wings; and you’re not losing them okay?”  Dean half lied, thinking that they would break the news to him when he was a bit more stable.

He could feel Gabe’s eyes boring into the back of his head as he spoke, but before he could say anything Sam spoke up.  “Here’s that broth for you.” 

“Thanks Sammy.”  Dean said, taking the bowl from his brother and patting his shoulder once as a thank you.  He then propped Cass’s head up on the blankets so he could use both hands for the soup, but Cass shook his head.

“I’m not hungry.” 

“You haven’t eaten anything in 5 days Cass, you have to, please,”  Dean plead, lifting some of the broth to Cass’s lips.  Reluctantly he took it.  He took a quarter of the broth before pushing the spoon away. Dean set it aside and ran his fingers down Cass’ cheek as his blue eyes closed.

Gabe and Sam soon retired to bed and, after eating a bit himself, Dean lay down next to his Irvan. Cass might have woken up and eaten, but he was still radiating with heat almost as much as the fire.  He turned his head and found Cass staring at him intently. 

“Hey beautiful.”  Dean whispered, kissing him on the lips gently.  Noticing how troubled Cass looked, he kissed him again on the forehead.  “What’s wrong?”    

Cass continued to gaze at him for a minute, his whole body stiffening.  “I’m sorry Dean.”  He finally spoke.

“For what?”

“I tried so hard to be brave, for you, but I still…I thought you were dead and I-I just wanted to die too.  If I had known you were still alive I would have never had those thoughts, I promised you I’d always come back but….  Dean it hurt so much, when they put those things in my wings-“  he shuddered and his breathing quickened, coming in short rapid gasps.

“Hey, there is absolutely nothing for you to be sorry about.  Breathe with me okay?  Try to feel me.”  Dean spoke, pulling Cass into his arms.  Though he didn’t want to, he tried gently prodding Castiel’s mind, trying to help him calm down.  Just as he thought grotesque images shot through his mind as he did so.  Metal hooks and blood soaked feathers, people scoffing and excruciating pain.  He had to concentrate to push those out of his mind so he could be stable enough to help Cass calm down.  After awhile, after Cass had fallen asleep, he let himself cry, hugging his Irvan as close as he could and wishing he had never seen what he had.  It looked like he had been hanging just by his wings, and he could have sworn he had seen blocks of cement tied to his ankles. 

“What did they do to you Cass?”  he whispered through his tears.


	18. If We Can't Find Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam finally gets to meet Cass formally, and Cass and Gabe have a happy reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again for your awesome reviews you've been giving me, they are my favorite part of my day! This chapter has equal amounts of fluff and terror (never thought I'd use those two words in the same sentence) so good luck, hope you enjoy, and as always, please leave a review!

An unearthly shriek jolted Dean out of his sleep in the middle of the night.  He sat bolt upright, going for the dagger in his boot and ready for anything as Gabe and Sam startled awake too.  He quickly realized it was just Cass who was screaming in Enochian and thrashing around beside him. 

“Cass, Cass wake up!”  Dean called as he pulled Cass into his arms. He was re-injuring his wings with all of the thrashing.  Gabe came over but Dean waved him away.  “Just go back to bed, I got him, it’s just a nightmare.” 

“Yea, I can see that, thanks genius,”  Gabe retorted angrily, but went back to his bed.

 “Castiel wake up!”  He tried once more, but it wasn’t working.  “Dammit.”  He closed his eyes and trying to reach out to his mind; he didn’t know what else to do.  _Irvan, it’s your Dean; I need you to wake up, it’s just a nightmare._   It must have gotten through because Castiel’s eyes shot open, looking around wildly as if expecting to get stabbed any second.  His breathing was so quick it was almost scary.  Dean tried to get the frantic Valkarie to focus on him, reassuring him over and over that he was safe.  Finally Cass locked eyes with his.  He almost couldn’t bear to see the amount of panic and agony they held. Cass stared at him in confusion for a minute, then flung his arms around his neck, sobbing. 

“I’m sorry; I-I’m so sorry. I couldn’t do anything about it, I’m sorry; I was tied up.  I didn’t want it to happen, I only love you Dean; only you!”  It took a second for Dean to realize what he was talking about. 

“Hey, it’s okay.  I know; it’s not your fault, you were forced into it Cass.  I know you love me, I don’t blame you at all.”  He voice cracked a bit as he realized that Castiel’s scars weren’t just going to be physical.  In fact, they would probably be more mental than anything.  He held him long after everyone had fallen back asleep, thinking hard.

He hated himself for letting this happen.  Gabriel was right; it was entirely his fault.  He was the one who had trapped Cass in the first place; had followed, pushed him to talk.  He had pushed everything on him, and now look what had happened because of it.  Because he was a selfish stupid son of a bitch who had no self control, and he hated himself for it.  Even now he couldn’t stand the thought of losing the man in his arms; even after everything he still had the gall to be so selfish.  Even if keeping him alive meant a lifetime of torment for him. 

“I’m so sorry Castiel,”  he whispered into his Irvan’s feather soft hair, which was damp from his tears.  “I’m just so sorry.”

***

For the next several days, Dean refused to leave Castiel’s side except to relieve himself or help Sam cook.  Even then he made sure that he was always within sight and sound of his Irvan.  His fever started to go down slowly, and the spaces between his fits grew longer and longer.  Gabe had done all that he could, now it was just up to time.  He had told him that he was in the clear, but he still wanted to make sure for himself.  During a particularly rainy day, in which they had had to build a makeshift roof over their heads, Dean sat by a slumbering Castiel watching Sam and Gabe talking a little ways away in amusement.  Turns out he needn’t have worried about how Gabe would react to Sam’s crush on him; if anything he almost wondered if Sam’s feelings were returned by the Valkarie.  The way that they threw looks at each other when the other wasn’t looking, how there was an overabundance of laughter in their conversations, it was pretty obvious that there was something going on between them. 

It made him happy, yet worried.  Any day now he knew someone was going to stumble upon them.  His dad probably had a search party out already.  At this point he had pretty much given up hiding anything from his dad; Castiel’s family had found out, and it was only a matter of time before John found out.  Besides, he was tired of all the lies and hiding.  _What’s he gonna think when he finds out that his two boys have befriended Valkarie?_   He knew it wouldn’t be anything good.  But he was prepared to defend both Castiel and Gabe, even at the point of a fight, if it came down to it.  He just had to make sure Gabe didn’t try to kill his dad, because he wouldn’t put it past him. 

As Dean gazed at them though, he noticed how much Gabe had softened, not only towards Sam, but towards him as well.  Gabe had been cold towards him since they had met, but the last few days he had been strangely kind, Dean almost wasn’t sure that he believed it.  He had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed Cass sitting up. 

“What are you looking at?”  Cass asked, making Dean jump a bit.

“Well good morning sunshine.”  He smiled at how messy Cass’s hair was.  “Have I ever told you how sexy your bed head is?”  He teased, threading his hand through Cass’s hair to mess it up even more.  Cass just rolled his eyes.

“More times than I can count.”  He snuggled into Deans side and he welcomed him gratefully, putting an arm around his shoulders and absentmindedly rubbing his arm. 

“Look at you, sitting up and snuggling.  I’d say you’re almost good as new,”  Dean observed.  Cass nodded. 

“That’s Sam right, your brother?”  he asked, looking over at Sam and Gabe, still so absorbed in their conversation that they hadn’t even noticed he had woken up.

“Yup, that’s my Sammy.  He’s been a huge help the past two weeks.  He’s the one that cooked your food and everything; that’s why it tastes so bad.”  Cass didn’t say anything to that, just continued to stare at the two.  “What is it?”  Dean finally asked after a minute or so.

“I just can’t believe that my brother is talking to a human like that.  He doesn’t even have a weapon in his hand, nothing.  He looks completely relaxed.”  Dean chuckled.

“Yea surprised me as well.  Sammy does have that effect on people though, he could charm his way out of murder.  He has the biggest crush on your brother, you know that?” 

“It’s not hard to see.”  Castiel smiled.  “To tell you the truth, Gabe looks pretty fond of him as well; kind of reminds me of when we first started talking.” 

“Oh, you mean when you threw me against a tree and threatened to end my life?”  Dean teased.  “Love at first sight for sure.”  That got a chuckle out of him.  Just then Gabe finally glanced over.

“Cassie, you’re awake; why didn’t you say anything?”  He exclaimed, coming over to them. 

“You looked like you were having fun; I didn’t want to intrude.”  Cass replied with a suggestive look.  That rendered Gabe speechless.  Maybe there was something going on between the two of them after all.

“Uh, how are you feeling; anything I can do?”  Gabe asked after a second. 

“I’m fine, thank you.”  Castiel replied.  “Are you okay though?”  Gabe looked down at the grass as if trying to cut a hole through the ground with his stare.

“Look Cass, I-I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to tell, I-“  Cass cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

“Gabriel, they literally had to torture it out of you; please don’t blame yourself for my life choices.  I’m just sorry you got hurt, and I’m glad you’re alright.” 

Gabe continued to stare at the ground as Cass moved away to embrace his brother.  Gabe, who had been trying to keep it together, lost it and clutched at his brother.  “I thought I was gonna lose you.”  He stuttered through a sob.  Dean moved away from them to go to Sam, who was still sitting over by the fire, watching from a distance.

“Hey, what you still doing sitting over here?  Aren’t you going to come meet my boyfriend?”  Dean asked, tousling his brother’s hair playfully.  “You know, you really need a haircut, you’re starting to look like some sort of a moose,”  he teased.  Sam glared at him, but stayed silent.  “What’s up?”  Dean asked, sitting down by him.

“Nothing, I’m just cold so I decided to stay by the fire,”  Sam mumbled.

“Oh, well I’ll bring Cass over here then, when he and Gabe get done bromancing anyway.”  He chuckled at his joke, but Sam still stayed serious.  Dean gave him a look. “Alright, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong!”  Sam insisted, glaring at him again. 

“Really, you think you can fool me?” 

Sam sighed, his shoulders heaving.  “I’m just nervous okay?  I mean, Gabe turned out to be alright, well actually more than all right; he’s great; but what if Cass doesn’t like me?” 

Oh, so that’s what it was.  “Sam, we’ve been through this.  Of course he’ll like you; he’s probably the biggest damn sweetheart I’ve ever met.”  He stood up and offered his hand to his brother.  “C’mon, come say hi, you’ll see.”  Sam reluctantly took his hand and walked over to Cass and Gabe, who thankfully looked like they were done talking. 

“Sam,  meet Castiel, Cass, meet my brother Sam.  There, now you’ve officially met.”  He sat back down next to Cass and Sam sat next to him. 

“It’s so nice to finally meet you Sam; Dean talks about you all the time.”  Cass offered with a warm smile. 

“Oh y-yea?”  Sam stammered.  “Better be good things.”  He attempted a joke, throwing a glance at Dean.  Cass chuckled.

“I assure you he talks very highly of you.” 

“Hey Sam, why don’t we go catch a couple fish for dinner, looks like the rain has stopped mostly.”  Gabe spoke up, and Sam nodded eagerly. 

“Sounds great!”  And with that they were off.

“Make sure it’s salmon!”  Dean called after them.   

“Jumpy fellow, isn’t he?”  Cass spoke once they were gone. 

“He’s just really scared of you for some reason.”  Dean chuckled. 

“Scared, why?” 

“Don’t ask me, he’s always pretty shy around new people, but ever since he found out about you he’s been worried that you wouldn’t like him.  I don’t get it either.” 

Cass sighed, melting into his side again and closing his eyes.

“You alright?”

“Yea, head hurts really bad all the sudden.”  Cass replied quietly.  “How long did you say it’s been, since…you know.”

“About two weeks.”  Dean answered, running his hand lightly through Cass’s hair in mild concern.

“Mm.”  Cass hummed.  Dean noticed that he was shaking slightly and he could feel his heart rate quickening. 

“Cass, what’s wrong?”  He asked, now quite concerned.  When Cass didn’t answer he held his shoulders so he could see his face.  His eyes were open, but he didn’t seem to be looking at anything, and he was shaking badly by now.  What was the most eerie was that his left pupil was almost double the size of his right.  “Cass.”  Dean whispered in a panic, holding Cass’s head with one hand.  He was about to call for Gabe when Cass let out a huge breath, like he had been holding it in for too long.  He doubled over, holding his head in pain. 

“Should I get Gabe?”  Dean asked.

“My…head.  No, oh no, please, not again.”  Cass panted, once again speaking in Enochian.

“Yea, I’m getting Gabe.”  Dean spoke, moving to stand. 

“STOP!”  Cass practically screamed, reaching out and clutching at Deans shirt, cutting him with his talons.  The amount of panic, almost pure insanity that was in Cass’s eyes as he stared at him almost made Dean want to run, and for one split second he wondered if he was possessed.  Cass made a motion to stand, but fell over onto his back and started to convulse, his eyes rolling back into his head. 

Dean, not daring to leave now, knelt down and tried to get him on his side so he wouldn’t choke on his tongue.  He had no idea what was going on, but something told him if he didn’t act fast he was going to lose his Irvan; he could feel it.


	19. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Cass, I gotta tell you something,” Dean said as he lifted his head so he could hold Cass’ gaze. Something about the pain in his face made him really nervous.  
> “What?” he asked, growing tense.  
> Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times; he was really struggling to say whatever it was he was going to say; which just confirmed Cass’s suspicions.

“GABRIEL, HELP!”  Dean screamed; not knowing what else to do.  He couldn’t leave Cass, but he needed help.  He looked around but saw no sign of the Valkarie. After what seemed like forever, Cass stopped convulsing.  He lay there for a moment before opening his eyes and looking around in confusion. 

“Dean,”  he whispered, sounding scared.  “Dean, where are you?” 

“I’m right here,”  Dean replied, still holding his head.  Cass was looking directly at him, what was going on?  “I’m right in front of you Cass.” 

“I-I can’t see you; I can’t see anything.  Why can’t I-ahh!”  Cass stopped abruptly, clutching at his head once more in agony. 

Dean yelled for Gabriel once more; he was starting to think that they were too far away to hear him and he’d have no choice but to leave Cass.  Cass started to convulse again as Dean heard a shout from behind him.

“What is it?”  Gabe asked as he ran up to him. Sam hung back a bit, puffing and out of breath. 

“I-I don’t know; he said his head hurt, he couldn’t see me, I-I think he’s dying,”  Dean stuttered, feeling sick himself.

“Hold him still,”  Gabe instructed, and turned to Sam. After a brief moment, Sam appeared on the other side and helped to hold Cass down.  Gabe closed his eyes, putting his hands to Cass’s head.  “There’s bleeding in his skull,” he murmured. “I think I can clear it up, keep holding him.”   Dean nodded, swallowing thickly.  That couldn’t be good.

“Hold on Cass; you’ve come this far, keep fighting,”  he whispered.  After a minute Cass went limp, eyes closed and way too still for comfort.  “Gabe?”  Dean asked, glancing at the still concentrating Valkarie.  No one dared to move until Gabe sat back and weakly caught himself before falling. Dean didn’t miss the motion of Sam reaching across Cass to help, even though he wouldn’t have been able to reach the Valkarie.

“Got it; it’s fixed.  There was a blood clot, it was preventing oxygen from getting to his brain,” Gabe said tiredly but Dean wasn’t listening. He stared at Cass’s chest before quickly leaning down.

“Gabe he’s not breathing!”  Dean exclaimed, putting his ear to Cass’s nose.

“What?”  Gabe asked in alarm.  “But I fixed it; he should be okay!” 

“Nonono, don’t do this to me,”  Dean whispered.  He hastily started CPR after making sure that Cass’s airway was clear. “C’mon; please c’mon.  Don’t leave me Cass.”  He bit back a sob as he frantically tried to revive him. Gabe and Sam had gone still as they watched, but Dean was fighting tears as he pushed against his Valkarie’s chest. After too long,  Cass gasped and started coughing and the sob Dean had been biting back escaped.   He turned Cass on his side as he gasping for air himself.  Cass looked up at him, and he was relieved to see that his eyes were back to normal. 

“W-what happened?”  he asked, sounding confused.  Dean pulled him into his arms, sobbing with relief. 

“I thought I lost you.”  He hugged Cass to him as tightly as he could.  “I thought you were dead.” 

“Dean…”  Cass spoke hesitantly.  “It’s okay, I’m okay.”  Dean laughed through his tears.  Cass was the one who had almost died and he was the one comforting him?  How pathetic can you get? 

“I know Cass, I know.  I’m just glad you’re okay.”  He loosened his grip a bit.  “We’re okay,”  he repeated, more for himself than anyone else. He looked up in surprise when Sam whooped in relief and Gabe’s laughter filled their little camp.

***

               It was early morning, probably a few hours before the sky would even start to think of getting lighter, and Cass was still awake.  He sat against a tree, gazing at the sleeping forms of Sam, Gabe and his Irvan, deep in thought; or perhaps not thinking at all.  Summer was quickly waning, the chill of the night confirmed that, and he shivered, snuggling deeper into the blanket around him and pulling his wings close.  That of course, made him wince.  If Gabe had been able to heal his wings, he wasn’t quite sure why they still hurt to move, but he supposed it was because of the seizures he had suffered a few days ago.  His whole body ached from that, after all. 

He sighed, leaning his head back to watch the stars he could see shining through the trees and wondering how long, how long this time until he would be able to soar close to them once again.  Who knew how long it would take for his flight feathers to grow back, possibly up to a year. 

_At least you still have them,_ he reminded himself.   _It could’ve been a lot worse_ , _you should be thankful._   With that thought he glanced at Dean once more, a soft smile painted on his lips.  Yes, he was thankful for sure.  He was with the man he loved, and he had a wonderful brother that stood by him and helped him during the worst of times; what more could he ask for?  He continued to gaze at the stars until he felt himself nodding off, quickly jerking himself awake once again, like he had been doing all night. 

He didn’t want to sleep.  Whenever he did, the nightmares that came were unbearable.  No, if he could, he would never sleep again.  Finally, as the sky was getting lighter, he watched Dean stir, slowly floating back to consciousness; admiring how beautiful he was and thinking that he was the luckiest Valkarie in the world to have found someone like him.  His bright green eyes finally blinked open, and found Cass sitting against the tree watching him.

“Watching people sleep now are you?  A little stalkerish, isn’t it?”  Dean teased, sitting up and stretching.  “How long you been awake?” Castiel shrugged, not wanting to lie but not wanting Dean to know he’d never actually went to bed.  Dean scooted over to him, snuggling up and lightly kissing him on the lips.  “It’s getting colder every day, snow can’t be that far off.”  He observed with an exaggerated shiver.

“Well, we’ll just have to keep each other warm then, now won’t we?”  Cass spoke suggestively, returning the kiss, only a lot more deep and long.  Out of habit, he lifted his wings to wrap around Dean and flinched, breaking the kiss. 

“You alright?”  Dean asked with concerned eyes. 

“My wings are still sore, I forgot.”  He replied with an exasperated sigh.  “Look at that, they don’t even cover you down to your waist, absolutely useless.”  He went to tuck them back to his sides, but Dean stopped him.  

“Please don’t.”  Was all he said, snuggling into the crook of his left wing. 

“Let me guess, they’ll always be perfect to you?”  he spoke bitterly before he could stop himself.

“Well, yea actually, they’re a part of you.”  Guilt gnawed at him at the hurt he heard in Dean’s voice and he wrapped the wing as far as he could around him, ignoring the pain. 

“Thank you Dean, I’m sorry about my attitude.”  He sighed. 

“Cass, if anyone has the right to be a bit grumpy right now it’s you; you don’t have to apologize to me.”  Dean replied, his head resting on Cass’s shoulder.

“The last while could not have been easy for you either Dean; I’m sorry for all the hell I’ve put you through.” 

“Well you’re worth it, so it’s okay,”  Dean answered quietly, pulling a smile from Cass’s face.

“I just keep thinking of how long I’m gonna have to wait to fly again this time.  We must be cursed or something.  I don’t even know how long it will take my flight feathers to grow back in,”  he admitted.  Dean stayed silent.  “But hey, at least I still have my wings, thanks to you, Sam, and Gabriel; thank you.  I’ll gladly wait.”  He added, reprimanding himself for being a downer once again.

“Cass, I gotta tell you something,”  Dean said as he lifted his  head so he could hold Cass’ gaze.  Something about the pain in his face made him really nervous.

“What?”  he asked, growing tense.

Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times; he was really struggling to say whatever it was he was going to say; which just confirmed Cass’s suspicions.

“No; Gabe healed them, they just need to grow back,” Cass offered hopefully.

“He had to heal your lungs first or you would’ve died.  Cass, they were halfway out of your back.”  His voice cracked a bit, as if the memory was too much for him.  “By the time he got to them, they had already started trying to heal themselves; there were things he couldn’t fix fully.”

“Well, fix them now then!”  Cass demanded and Dean visibly flinched.

“We can’t, okay; it’s too late.”

“What are you saying, that I’ll never be able to fly again?”  Cass asked as anger built in his chest.

“I’m sorry; I wish it weren’t the case.”

Cass climbed to his feet; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.“You’re so-you’re sorry; that’s all you can say?”  His vision blurred with tears.  “I won’t ever be able to do the ONE thing that is worth living for anymore and you’re SORRY?”  By the end he was yelling and Dean stood up as well.

“Wait a second, the one thing worth living for, what does that make me?”  he asked, anger burning in his eyes.

“Okay then, you caught me, flying has always been the greatest joy of my life; I wish we had never fallen in love, I wish I had never gone to get a something to eat before bed that night!  None of this would have happened had I never met you!”  He yelled.  He didn’t mean it, and he knew he didn’t; he was just so angry.  Dean stared at him, and the amount of agony in his eyes pulled him back to reality.  Cass sucked in a ragged, painful breath.

“Dean, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t-“ 

“Forget it.  I mean, I only risked my life for you how many times?  I’ve only given up my whole life to be with you, it doesn’t matter.  None of that matters if you can’t fly, right?”

“Dean, listen to me, I didn’t mean-“

“I don’t wanna hear it, okay?  I just don’t; we’re done.” 

“DEAN-“

“We’re done.”  And with that he turned away and started working on building the fire back up.  It was only then that Cass noticed Sam and Gabe were awake, both just sitting there, looking very uncomfortable.

Cass stood there for a minute, trying to decide what to say, but it was obvious Dean didn’t want anything to do with him anymore, why would he after he had said such a thing?  Gabe stood and walked over to him but Cass didn’t want to hear anything else, so he turned and bolted out of the clearing, ignoring the calls from Gabe to stop. 


	20. Fighting Words Are For The....Ducks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean gently removed Cass’ hands from his face and Cass found himself looking into his Irvans deep emerald gaze. He hadn’t noticed before, but they were glittering with tears themselves. A wave of love and affection washed over him and he knew that if he could do it all over again he would make the same choice. Dean was his one and only, he was it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by a dazed and confused author sitting on the edge of a duck pond wondering how the Hell to write this scene LOL

Dean turned for a second, watching Cass disappear, but then continued with his task. 

“Well, there he goes,”  Gabe sighed behind him.  “What happened?”

“None of your business is what,”  Dean responded, stomping on a particularly thick piece of wood to break it down. 

“Okay it’s none of my business; but it’s not safe out there and he can’t fly, so let’s go find him and then we’ll clear this all up, okay?” 

“Just let him be, he obviously doesn’t care about us, all he cares about is if he can fly again!”

 “You told him?”  Gabe asked in surprise.

“We never should have kept it from him in the first place.” 

“Okay, first of all, I told you not to tell him until I was there; that’s a very sensitive subject.” Gabe stood and walked over. “ Second of all, stop breaking wood and help me go find him.  He’s still healing, what if something like the other day happens again?” 

Dean stopped and spun around to look Gabe in the eye.  “You go find him, he’s _your_ damn brother!” 

“Oh, so now it’s my fault?  Guess who got him into this situation in the first place genius?”  Gabe retorted.

“Him; HE did; I didn’t force anything, it’s as much his fault as mine!  So I’m not gonna go try to find someone who doesn’t want to be found, I’m gonna stay here, light the fire and cook some damn breakfast!”  He yelled.

“Dean!”  Sam’s stern voice cut into his anger, and he turned to find him standing right by him. 

“What do you want Sam?”  he snapped.

“You know dad’s looking for us right?” 

Dean stared at him for a minute.  “Yea, why?” 

“Then you know he’s probably got the whole village out helping as well.  And we haven’t exactly been being quiet the last little while or so.  There’s a big chance that they’re gonna find Castiel before us if we don’t go look for him NOW.” 

Dean felt a flicker of panic in his chest, but he stubbornly went back to lighting the fire with a shake of his head. 

“C’mon Dean, he didn’t mean what he said and you know it,” Sam said softly, telling Dean he had heard it all.

“Yea, well it sounded like the truth to me,”  he replied stiffly.  Sam knelt down and snatched the rock and flint he was using from his grasp.

“Sam, give that back right now or so help me-“

“Remember a few years ago when I wanted to go check your traps with you, but you wouldn’t let me because I was still too little and it was too dangerous?  You remember what I did?”

“You threw a fit, that’s what.” 

“I was so angry about it that I told you I hated you, that I wished I had a different brother.  Do you think I meant that?”

“Of course you didn’t, you were just mad that I wouldn’t let you do what you wanted.” 

“Exactly; people say things when they’re angry or hurt that they don’t mean.  Flying is obviously something really important to Cass; he was just angry, that’s all.”

“That’s different; you’re my brother.” 

“It doesn’t seem that different to me.  I’ve seen how much you love him; and I’ve actually been really jealous of him to tell you the truth.  But I’ve never seen you as happy as you are when you’re with him, and I don’t want something said out of anger to ruin that happiness.  He needs you now more than ever, so you better go find him before dad does.” 

Dean stared at him for a second and Sam stared back defiantly. Dean blew out a breath and pulled him into a tight hug.  “Thanks Sammy,”  he whispered. 

Of course he knew that Cass hadn’t meant what he said, he had tried to apologize right afterwards, but he had let it get to him.  Sam was right, Cass was out there alone, and if someone else found him, he wouldn’t be able to fly away.  In fact, he was still quite weak, and so he probably wouldn’t even be able to fight very well.  They needed to find him and fast. 

“Okay, let’s go; I’ll take north, Sam you take East, and Gabe..”  It was only then that he noticed Gabe was already gone.  “Alright then, let’s go Sammy.” 

***

Castiel sat on the bank of a small pond, his eyes glued on three ducks that were bobbing out in the middle of the water.  The sun was now above the horizon line behind him, casting lengthy shadows across the pond.  A light breeze rustled through the dying leaves of the trees above his head, causing a few to flutter to the ground around him, some landing to rest on his wings, which were spread out behind him on the grass, since it hurt to hold them up himself.

_How do the trees feel?_   he wondered.  _To be stripped of their foliage, left exposed and naked for the harshness of the winter months ahead._ He watched intently as one of the ducks reached back with its bill to clean the underside of one of its wings.  It was a beautiful male, with a bright green head that glowed in the light of the rising sun and darker blue, green and brown peppering its body.  A happy, happy duck; and he had never hated anything so much in his life.

 It had been about an hour now since Dean had broken the news to him, that he would never be able to fly again.  What he had said in his anger rang through his head over and over again, and he felt like such a jerk about it.  He should have stayed, should have insisted that Dean listen to his apology, but instead what had he done; ran like a coward.  They were likely pretty worried by now; but he wasn’t ready to let them find him yet.  Not until he had a handle on himself and had processed what he had been told completely.  Only there was a problem; he wasn’t sure if he would ever process the news, or if he’d even ever be okay again.  He shifted his wings a bit, wincing at the dull aching in his shoulders; almost all the way healed….almost.  Except they weren’t; they were scarred enough that they wouldn’t ever be able to lift him off the ground again, not to mention that half of them were still missing.  They were too light and it kept on throwing him off balance. 

He heard something to the right of him and turned to see another duck standing a few feet away from him.  They stared at each other for a minute before it started picking in the grass around him with its beak, looking for food. 

“You don’t know how lucky you are,”  he found himself talking in Enochian to the duck.  “You could fly away anytime you wanted, just like that; you little asshole.”  He knew that he was acting like a child.  He was a full grown adult and yet here he was hiding and moping, talking to a duck for Valhalla’s sake; yet he didn’t really care right now. 

A loud noise sounded in the trees behind him and the duck took flight in a flurry of feathers and harsh quacking.  Thinking it might be one of the villagers, Cass stood to confront them, but he over compensated for the weight of his wings and instead found himself pitching headfirst into the water, instinctively flapping his wings frantically to try to save himself.  He shouted half in pain from his sore shoulders and half in alarm before plunging into the murky water with a splash.  He lifted his head, spluttering, and letting out a string of curses in Enochian before he started to climb out of the water. The worn boots that appeared in front of him did little to improve his mood.

“Cass, are you okay?” Dean asked, offering his hand.  He should have took it, should have apologized about what he had said and told him and that he loved him and it didn’t matter that his wings were ruined as long as he could be with him, but instead he let his anger get the best of him once again.

“Drux Gon until MED undongisg! (No I am NOT alright!)”  He yelled as he slapped Dean’s hand away and climbed onto the bank himself.  He picked a string of moss out of his hair and chucked it at the nearest tree, continuing to yell. (In Enochian) “I’m cold, I’m wet, my back hurts, I’m hideous and crippled, and I’m an absolute IDIOT who doesn’t know what’s good for him and I can never do ANYTHING right!“ and on and on he went.  Once he started yelling he couldn’t get himself to stop, and poor Dean was just standing there staring at him helplessly just like that duck and been. 

_Stop; stop you’re hurting him even more._   A voice was whispering in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t stop.  He felt hot tears mixing with the droplets of water on his face and finally he ran out of words to say. Hiding his face in his hands he screamed in utter frustration and despair, falling to his knees and shaking from the cold and the sobs that escaped him.  Almost immediately he felt Dean’s strong arms appear around him and he leaned into the embrace gratefully.  “I’m…hideous,”  he choked out in English.

“Don’t you dare say those kinds of things Cass; just don’t.”

“It’s true; I would be better off just taking them off completely.  Better yet, I just wish that I had died.” 

Dean gently removed Cass’ hands from his face and he found himself looking into his Irvans deep emerald gaze.  He hadn’t noticed before, but they were glittering with tears themselves.  A wave of love and affection washed over him and he knew that if he could do it all over again he would make the same choice.  Dean was his one and only, he was it.

“Listen to me okay?  You are the most important thing that has ever happened to me; and I’m so sorry that you got hurt because of it.”  He paused here, swallowing thickly as a few tears escaped down his face against his will.   

“I’m so so sorry, and I’m never gonna let anything like that happen ever again.  Truth is I don’t know if I could make it without you; I need you Castiel. I love you more than anything in this universe.  I know it’s selfish, but please don’t abandon me.”  His mask was breaking with his voice, and Cass could feel his hands shaking on his face.

He gently reached up and wiped Deans tears away, sniffling.  “I won’t Irvan; I won’t. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said back there, I just got so mad; but if I could do it all over again, I would make the same choice.  I love you.”

Dean smiled warmly.  “Of course I forgive you; you Naunged. (Hatchling),”  he said and Castiel smiled at the use of the old nickname.  “And as far as looks go, I want you to know that you are and will always be the most beautiful thing in the world to me, you understand?”  Cass tried to look away at that, but Dean wouldn’t let him.  “Hey, I was being serious.  I know it’s hard; I can’t fathom what you are going through, but I can try to help.  I can’t do that though if you won’t let me; so will you let me help you Cass?”

Cass couldn’t find his voice so he just nodded and threw his arms around Dean’s shoulders. He winced once more from the sudden movement and sobbed into the front of Dean’s tunic.  Maybe he wasn’t okay, maybe he didn’t know if he’d ever be okay again; but at least Dean was here.  They were both broken and there problems were far from over, but as long as they were together maybe they could find a way to be whole. 

 


	21. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John finds out that his sons have befriended Valkarie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moment you've all been waiting for! John finally makes another appearance, and it ain't purdy lol

Dean sat, holding Cass, and gently stroking the remaining feathers when something rustled slightly in the brush behind him. His guard shot up as he turned, his mind racing with how to defend his Irvan. Hoping against hope for Sammy or Gabe, he turned to find John Winchester stepping out of the trees instead with his favorite weapon, an axe, in hand. 

“Dad!”  Dean  exclaimed in shock, standing up and trying to cover Cass with his body as much as possible but Cass stood up behind him.  John looked from him to Cass and back again a few times, clearly not believing what he was seeing. 

“Son, do you realize there’s a Valkarie behind you?”  he finally asked. 

“Yea, his name is Castiel,”  Dean responded smoothly, despite how hard his heart was racing.

“Excuse me?”  John’s eyes narrowed. Dean clenched his jaw.   

“That’s his name; Castiel.” 

John shook his head disbelievingly.  “Is this where you’ve been the past two and a half weeks?  With this animal?” He paused to sneer at Cass. “ What do you think you’re doing, and where is Sam?”

“I’m right here, Dad,”  a small voice sounded behind John as  Sam appeared from the trees. 

“Dean, you had better have a very good explanation for…this.”  He gestured to Cass. 

“HE is not an animal dad; he’s as much human as the rest of us.  And I do have a good explanation actually.  He got hurt badly,  because of me, and I was just trying to help him.”  Dean tried to sound way more confident than he felt.  A supportive hand appeared on his shoulder as Cass stepped up to stand beside him. 

“What the hell kind of spell does this thing have on you son?  It’s not a he, it’s not anything but a bloodthirsty animal; now get over here before I have to make you.”  Dean took a deep breath.

“No Dad, please just listen to me.” Dean glanced sideways at Cass, whose blue eyes were focused on the evident threat just feet away. Dean looked back to his father. “That’s what I thought at first too, but he speaks fluent English; did you know that they actually teach English back at his home?  I’ve spent time with him  and with his brother and they really are no different from us.  Please, just give him a chance; you’ll see, I promise.”

 John stood in tense silence until Sam walked around to stand beside Dean with folded arms. John turned to his youngest.   “Do you believe this bullshit?” 

“It’s true, I’ve seen it to.”  Sam nodded. 

With a sigh John walked up to the two of them and Dean tensed, as he stepped in front of Cass. To his surprise, and utter shock, John asked, “Alright then, what am I supposed to do, shake its hand?” 

Cass gently pushed Dean aside and said in a hesitant tone, “Only if you want to Mr. Winchester; but what your sons are telling you is true.” 

“Oh, okay.”  John said as he reached out with his free hand.  Dean watched with wide eyes until John suddenly  shifted and swung his ax at Castiel’s face. Cas easily dodged, despite his injuries and weakened state, but tripped and landed on his hand and knees. Dean jumped forward.

“Dad, NO!”  he growled as he grabbed the axe handle.

“It’s got you under some stupid spell son, I’m just trying to help you!”  John grunted as he wrestled for the axe. Dean grunted, wishing he were just a little stronger as his grip started to slip. When Sam shouted, they both looked over at him, only to have Gabe drop out of the sky.   

The tawny Valkarie landed on John and knocked them both to the ground.  Dean saw Sam helping Cass up as he jumped forward to pull him off before he could do serious damage.

“Gabriel please, he’s my dad!”  Dean yelled as he grasped at Gabe’s arm. Gabe had John around the neck and was squeezing hard.  “I said no Gabe, stop!”  Dean growled as he tried to loosen the impossibly tight grip on John’s neck. Gabe let go with one hand to shove Dean away, and   John managed to get his legs up and against Gabriel’s stomach. He  kicked hard and Gabe’s grip failed and he stumbled back.  John gasped hoarsely and drew a long knife from his belt as Gabe advanced again, but before he got to him Sam appeared in between them.

“Stop; he’s my friend!”  Sam yelled, holding out his hands.

“Get out of the way Sam, it just tried to kill me!”  John commanded, but Sam didn’t move.

“If you want to kill him, you’ll have to kill me first,”  he stated stubbornly. Motion drew Dean’s gaze to Cass, and saw one of his dad’s friends in the tree line. Dean’s heart dropped when he saw the bow and arrow aimed right at Cass, who had climbed back to his feet and was staring at Sam, Gabriel and John nervously.

“Cass, lookout!”  He screamed as he ran  to his Irvan.  Without much thought Dean barreled into Cass and knocked him out of the way as the twang of the bow sounded in the sudden stillness.  For a second Dean just stood there and stared at Cas  in confusion.  It wasn’t until Cass began screaming his name that he looked down to find the arrow tip sticking out of his own chest. The calls were like a distant echo, and  he barely registered the impact of his knees on the ground. Dean looked up into panic filled blue eyes as he fell into the Valkarie’s arms.  They were so blue in contrast to the sky, he wasn’t sure they had ever been so bright before. 

He tried to tell him it was alright, but when he opened his mouth, blood gurgled out and spilled across his chin. _That isn’t right._  White hot pain exploded in his chest suddenly and then, as if it couldn’t get any worse, it did.  It was like thousands of needles were piercing him and all he could do is just pray for it to be over; and all at once it was.  His vision dimmed and waned, but then his eyes snapped open.

Gasping, he sat up, putting a hand on his chest.  His shirt was torn and there was blood, but he couldn’t see a wound; it was completely healed; and Cass was sitting there looking completely wiped out but satisfied. 

“Cass, you’re still healing yourself you idiot!”  he scolded, but Cass just shook his head.

“And what was I supposed to do, just let you die?”  It was then that both of them remembered John, and looked around to see him staring at them open mouthed.

“See?  He’s one of the good guys,”  Dean said before spitting blood and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.  “Please just leave them alone,”  he begged as  villagers filed  into the clearing.  Gabe was standing by Sam, glancing around suspiciously at all the people. 

“You,”  John snapped, pointing to Cass.  “How, or uh, why did you heal him?”  Cass looked to Dean and he nodded, letting him know it was okay.

“Because I love him,”  Cass stated truthfully.  John looked back to Dean.

“Dean?”  

“Yea, I love him back,”  he confirmed; he was pretty sure this was the most scared he had ever been, he would almost prefer having that arrow in his chest again.  John glared for several more minutes then lowered the axe, looking done with the world, and turned away. 

“Sam, get over here, we’re leaving!”  he commanded, and Sam reluctantly obeyed. 

“Hey, Dad wait!”  Dean called, climbing to his feet and running over, but when he reached his hand out to grab his shoulder it was slapped away.  John turned to look at him.

“Don’t touch me with those filthy hands.  I’m leaving that thing alive today because it somehow healed you, but if I see it again it’s dead.  As long as you are with those things, you are no son of mine.”  He growled, making Dean flinch.

“Dad, please? Just think it through.”  he begged, trying to hold back his emotions.

“Don’t even think about coming back to the village; you’re banished, do you understand?” 

“Dad no, please don’t-“  Sam spoke up but was cut off.

“Be quiet Sam!”  John barked, and he fell silent, staring down at the ground.  Dean couldn’t believe what was happening. 

“Dad-“  He spoke, but John had turned and was leaving.  “Come back, please; wait!”  He called but he didn’t, and then everyone was gone. Gabe, Cass, and Dean were left alone by the pond.  “No.”  He whispered, falling to his knees in despair.  There was rustling behind him and he realized Cass had scooted over to him; he must have been too weak to stand.

“Dean, I’m so sorry,”  he spoke quietly, putting his arms around Dean’s shoulders. 

“I can’t believe he would do that,”   He spoke numbly, still staring at the spot where his dad had disappeared.  “He just…left; just like that. No fight or anything. I mean….not enough of a fight.” 

“I know; I’m sorry,”  Cass whispered, hugging him tighter.  Slowly Dean became aware of how much Cass was shivering.  He was confused for a second, and then remembered that he had fallen in the water and it was fairly cold still, and he had healed a life threatening wound.

“You-you’re still wet Cass.  We need to get you back to the fire,”  he said before glancing at his clothes that Cass was wearing.  Sure enough they were stiff with the cold, and the ends of his hair were a bit frosty.  “Shit, we need to get you dry.”  He climbed to his feet.  “Can you stand?”

“Uh, I’m gonna need help, I’m sorry.”  Cass apologized, trying to get up a bit himself, but he was obviously struggling.  Dean was thankful for the distraction; he couldn’t do anything about what his dad had just done, but he could help Cass.  Scooping him up in his arms, he remembered Gabe, who was still standing where Sam had stood in front of him, looking at the trees.

“Gabe, you okay?”  he called.  Gabe turned, nodding his head before following them.

“Will Sam be okay with him?”  Gabe asked as they made it back to the camp and Dean sat Cass down so he could light the fire. 

“Yea, he’ll be fine,”  Dean answered, although he wasn’t really sure; but right now he just needed to focus on things that he could do; like lighting this fire and getting Cass warm.  He was looking pretty pale after all.  He got it going and grabbed some fresh clothes, handing them to Cass.  “Put those on.”  He ordered.  Afterwards, he set him by the fire and wrapped him in a blanket.  Satisfied, he sat down next to him.  “You shouldn’t have healed me you know; you’re still really weak.” 

“I wasn’t going to let you die Dean; I just couldn’t handle that right now okay?”  Dean was too tired to argue so he let the subject drop. 

“Where’d Gabe go?”  he asked, glancing around.  Cass just shrugged.  “You’re still shivering.”  Dean realized, moving closer until he was completely against Cass.  Reaching up to touch his forehead, he sighed.  “Your fever’s back.  Lie down and get some rest okay?  But stay close to the fire.” 

“Dean, were you close with your dad?”  Cass asked out of the blue.

“Uh, I don’t know, I guess not; why?” 

“Just a question.” 

“Look, I actually figured something like that would happen; it’s no big deal.  I didn’t want to take over the farm anyway, that would be so boring.”  Dean lied.

“Dean, please don’t lie to me.”  Cass replied.

“I’m not lying!”  But it took one look from Cass to break him.  “Okay, maybe I had no idea that would happen alright?  But I don’t wanna talk about it.”    Cass leaned against him with a sigh.

“I wish you would though.” 

“Okay then, why don’t you tell me exactly what they did to you up there then, if we’re talking about feelings,” he replied a bit more forcefully then he intended. 

“That’s not fair, you already know anyway,”  Castiel spoke quietly. 

“Only bits and pieces; but you don’t have to say anything okay? I’m sorry.” 

“Me too; I’m here when you’re ready to talk, okay?” 

“Okay.”  Dean replied. He closed his eyes and leaned his head on Cass’s damp hair. Cass sighed and they relaxed into each other as the fire crackled.


	22. Heartland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean was just as horrified by the feelings and images that flashed through his mind as the last time he tried this, but if he couldn’t rescue his Irvan from his nightmare, then the least he could do is go through it with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we only have four chapters left guys!! Man it's crazy to think that we've gotten this far. It's not over yet though, we still have some fluffy, angsty, smexy times ahead, and one last big surprise, so don't stop reading now! :)

Cass stood on the edge of a cliff, wings stretched out wide, soaking in the feeling of the wind as it caressed his skin, threading through his feathers and leaving an icy chill wherever it went, but he didn’t care how cold it was.  It was almost a month into the winter, and he was enjoying the little bit of warmth that the sun gave, even if it was only a little bit.

 _Maybe if I just jumped, maybe if I tried hard enough…._ He sighed, letting his wings down and sitting cross legged on the grass.  It had been a few weeks now since he and Dean had decided to strike out on their own and make a life for themselves, just the two of them.  He really should go back and help Dean some more with building, but the wind felt so good up here.  He rubbed at his face, his eyelids felt like bricks on his face. 

 _How long has it been this time?_   he thought, trying to remember the last time he had actually slept; he noticed he could go about three days before he dropped from exhaustion, so that’s what he was doing.  Dean had no idea of course, as far as he was concerned he was sleeping fitfully every night.  _Don’t be stupid Castiel, of course he’s noticed; it’s not hard to when you’re nodding off while eating or cutting a log._   And yet he hadn’t said anything about it.  In fact, Dean had been incredibly quiet since they had arrived at the place they decided to call home, far far away from either of their old lives. 

“There you are, laying down on the job are you?”  Dean’s voice cut into his thoughts as his Irvan came up and sat down beside him.  “It’s pretty cold up here to be daydreaming, don’t ya think?”  he asked, shivering a bit.  Cass just shrugged. They sat in silence, save the wind, for several minutes.

 “So how long has it been since you slept?”  Dean asked out of the blue.

 _I spoke to soon; of course he would ask about it._   Not wanting to say anything, he again shrugged.

“You’re gonna make yourself sick again you know.  Have you not been sleeping to avoid nightmares?”

Shrug.

“Hey, are you gonna talk to me, Feathers?”

Shrug.

“Seriously, I’m having flashbacks from when we first met.  It’s not gonna work, this time I know you speak English.” 

Cass sighed. “I don’t know how long it’s been, a few days maybe; and yes, it’s so I don’t have to deal with the stupid dreams,”  he finally replied, knowing Dean wasn’t going to give up until he talked.  There was a short silence before Dean continued.

“You haven’t talked about what happened at all.”

“Yea, because there’s no point; I know what happened, you’ve probably seen everything through our bond, there’s absolutely no reason to talk about it,”  Cass snapped a bit more sharply than he had intended to sound.

“It doesn’t matter if I know everything that happened, that’s not the point; it helps for people to talk things out, and I just want you to get to a point where you can go to sleep knowing you’re not gonna wake up a few hours later screaming.  Cass, please just talk to me; or could you at least look at me?” 

Cass’s heart broke at the hurt in his voice, and just then realized that he’d been avoiding eye contact with his Irvan as well.  He slowly turned to look at him, those perfect emerald green eyes that were almost glowing in the sunlight.  Those eyes he loved more than anything in the world, and then he quickly looked away; for those eyes had also been haunting his nightmares.  They were what he saw ripping at his wings, pulling at his feet, telling him how hideous he was; how no one could ever love someone like him and that he should just die.  He didn’t know the reason why Dean had taken up place as a tormenter in his dreams, but how in the world could he talk about that to the person in front of him?  He pulled his wings around himself, shivering. 

“Let’s go Cass, it’s too cold up here.”  He heard the resignation and exhaustion in his Irvan’s voice and felt hot tears pricking his eyes.  Of course he was aware of how difficult he was being, but he wasn’t sure what else to do right now. 

***

Dean sat bolt upright in bed, the blind panic the gripped him when he heard Cass’s screams abated quickly as he realized he was just having another one of his nightmares. He pulled the thrashing Valkarie into his arms, muttering comforting words to both Cass and himself as heavy exhaustion filled his mind and heart.  This was the third night in a row since he had convinced Cass to try to sleep, and both of them were suffering for it. 

“Cass wake up, it’s just a dream, you’re alright; I got you I promise.”  He tried, but Cass was pretty deep in his dream at this point.  Before he thought too much about it he leaned down, pressing his forehead to Cass’s, and tried to push calm thoughts and love through to his mind to help him calm down.  He was just as horrified by the feelings and images that flashed through his mind as the last time he tried this, but if he couldn’t rescue his Irvan from his nightmare, then the least he could do is go through it with him.

After what seemed like forever Cass’s eyes blinked open and Dean found himself mesmerized by how bright the blue was even in the soft darkness of their newly built cabin.  “Na, Unvanur.” (Hey beautiful)  he muttered, slowly threading his fingers through his Irvan’s raven hair, now damp with sweat. 

“D-Dean?”  Cass whispered, gazing back at him with an expression Dean couldn’t fully place, but it wasn’t quite relief.  Then he buried his head in Deans neck and sobbed, just like he had done the last two nights. 

“Why!?”  Cass practically wailed it into the front of Deans nightshirt, making him jump a bit.

“Why what Cass?”  he asked, a bit alarmed.

“Why the hell did I survive; it’s not fair!”

Dean sighed and tears burned at his eyes.  “I know its hard Cass, I know.”  He spoke softly, gently rocking back and forth. 

“I just want to be with the person I fucking love, and now we finally DO get to be together and they’re STILL here Dean, they’re still punishing me for it and IT’S NOT FAIR!”  He yelled the last part angrily, clutching at Dean’s shirt and accidently cutting him with his talons. 

“Cass, your nails,”  Dean whispered, but he felt the wounds heal almost immediately before Cass tried to push away from him.

“I’m  s-sorry Dean, I didn’t mean-“

Dean pulled him back against him.  “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.” 

“What are we gonna do?”  It came out a whimper, making Dean’s heart shatter into a million pieces. 

“It’ll get better, you’ll see.”  He spoke, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Cass’s forehead.  “I’ll make sure it gets better.” 

He felt Cass nod against his neck, and after awhile his breathing evened out.  Dean carefully lay him back down on the pillow, wiping the tears from his face and getting up to change his ruined shirt.  _It’ll be alright, of course he’s gonna have nightmares for a little while._   He tried to reassure himself as he tugged one of his other shirts over his head.  _It will get better, it has to._ But it didn’t.

***

4 months later...

Castiel cursed under his breath as he tripped and almost fell over a small branch hidden by the undergrowth.  It was late afternoon, and he was checking the rabbit traps they had set the day before; not that he expected to find anything.  A late spring storm had blown in last night, turning the mountainside that they called their home into mud.  It had been a particularly wet spring and it didn’t look like it was going to dry up anytime soon.  The river that ran a few miles from the cabin that they built had broken its banks a week ago, making it dangerous to tread too close for fear of being swept up in the mess.  He pulled his leather coat around him tighter, sighing in disappointment when he found another empty trap.  _At this rate we’ll starve,_ he thought darkly.  The winter had proved difficult for game, and spring wasn’t making things any easier.

A flash of color caught his eye, over by the marshy banks of the swollen river, and he froze. After a moment he slowly crept forward and pulled an arrow out of his quiver _. Maybe he would get lucky and it would be a deer or something._   Now that would be a catch since they hadn’t even seen any deer for weeks.  As he moved closer the image became clearer, and he lowered his bow in disappointment.  It was a wild horse, all brown except for one long white stripe from ears to nose, just standing there with its head low and ears pressed back.  _I guess we could eat a horse if it really came down to it,_  Cass thought bleakly.  After a silent debate with himself on whether or not he should shoot the animal, he finally decided to just leave.  A shrill whinny sounded loudly in the quiet and it was only then that he noticed the second horse.  It was further out into the marshy water, only its head and top of its back visible as it sat completely stuck in the mud.  The brown horse lifted its head and let out a despairingly sad call in return.  Cass  stood there staring at the two in indecision.  They obviously needed help, that was for sure, and it didn’t take him long to decide to try to save them.  Turning around, he dashed back to the cabin as fast as he could to find Dean.

***

“I don’t know Cass, he’s pretty deep in there; and we don’t know for how long either.  Chances of him actually surviving even if we do get him out are slim,”  Dean said as they both stood not far off from the brown horse that was standing watch.  He was now eyeing them warily with his ears pricked forward and head turned their direction. 

“I don’t care, we have to try,”  Cass replied stubbornly, gathering the rope that they had brought.  “I’ll go in and get this around him, and then we’ll both pull him out.”

“Woa, hold on Feathers, that’s dangerous.  You could get caught in the current, or get trampled, let me do it,”  Dean spoke, trying to take the rope from Cass’s hands. 

Cass looked at him, letting a bit of what he was feeling into Dean’s mind to try to help him understand that he had to do this.  He had felt so helpless all winter.  He couldn’t fly and had still been recovering, so he, in his mind,  had been pretty useless. This was his chance to actually do something.  This animal was in pain, just like him, and maybe if he could help it, there was hope for him as well. 

“Alright, but be careful!”  Dean sighed after a minute, and Cass nodded thankfully.  “And don’t get your wings stuck, that’s the last thing we need is the both of you stuck out there!”  Dean called as he began trudging towards the horse.

 _I’m not stupid Dean._ Cass thought to his Irvan, and he felt angry annoyance fill his head before cutting out Dean’s feelings all together from his mind.  When had their relationship become so strained?  That’s right, it was all his fault.  His stupid dreams had led him to be pretty irritable, and he didn’t want to tell Dean it was mostly because Dean was the one hurting him in his dreams.  They hardly even talked to each other, and he had even found it a bit difficult to reach out to his mind lately.    “You would expect better communication from two people who can reach eachothers’ thoughts.”  He murmured to himself.

 He reached the exhausted horse after a bit of struggling.  “Alright, we’re going to get you out of this okay?”  he spoke in Enochian to the horse, who was watching him warily, the whites of his eyes showing.  He tentatively reached out a hand and laid it on the horse’s nose.  It was scared for sure, but he sensed more exhaustion than anything, and a pang of empathy shot through him.  After a few minutes of stroking its neck and murmuring comforting words, he managed to get the rope around its rump; then tied the other length of rope he had brought around its head in a makeshift harness.  “Okay, we’re going to get up now,”  he spoke more to himself than to the horse before he  pulled on the ropes as hard as he could. 

The horse floundered, obviously trying to get its feet under itself, but after a small struggle, just sat back down, yanking Cass forward and causing him to fall and get almost totally submerged.  _Cass, are you alright!?_   Dean’s worried voice rang through his head, and he annoyingly pushed a yes back as he glared at the horse in front of him.  He could recognize the look in the horses eyes; it had given up, it was just going to wait for death now.  Anger shot through him and he stumbled to his feet.  “Ged Van.”  He commanded the horse to get up as he tugged on the ropes once again.  After a minute the horse started to flounder once again, lurching forward. It was almost to its feet before it fell  back down and once again making Cass lose his footing.

Cass  spit muddy water out of his mouth and shook his now mud soaked wings out. “So you’re just going to give up, just like that?” he snarled.  The horse looked at him as if to say _yes, it’s too hard_ , _I can’t do it._

He couldn’t control himself now. In Enochian still he snarled at the animal.  “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to just give up in the past 6 months?  More times than I can count, but I wasn’t allowed to.  If I’m not allowed to give up then neither are you, you’re going to fight until you’re dead, got it?”  He tugged at the ropes and blinked mud and tears out of his eyes.  He didn’t know why he was getting so worked up over this; or maybe he knew a little too well why.  All his pent up anger and frustration that had been building all winter was suddenly unleashed. He turned and threw the rope end towards Dean, who caught it.

“Grab it, we’re getting this horse out NOW!”  he yelled. 


	23. Good Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a successful rescue, Cass and Dean nurse the horse back to health.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that this one is a day late guys! Have some angst and fluff as an apology.

The brown horse that had been standing by followed them all the way back to the cabin. Once they had urged the exhausted, mud stained horse inside their small shed, Dean went out to find the brown stallion stubbornly standing a little way off from the door, ears pricked and alert.  “Still here are you? You guys must be the best of friends for you to still be around.”  He smiled, gazing fondly at the horse.  Cass had stayed inside, insisting that the rescued horse, who they had found out was a mare, needed constant supervision.  Dean experimentally took a few steps towards the stallion, only to have it back up as he moved forward. 

“Sorry, I don’t have any hay to feed you,”  he apologized.  The horse just stood there, gazing at him with quizzical eyes.  Dean sighed and headed towards the house.  He wouldn’t be able to get Cass away from the mare anytime soon, but he could do everything in his power to save the mare, for Cass’s sake.  He seemed to have stuck his worth onto the well-being of a doomed animal, and that worried him.  The last six months or so had hardly been easy trying to deal with his Irvan’s nightmares and depression, and it was just going to get worse when that mare died.  Dean cooked some oats and grabbed a bunch of blankets then went back out to the shed.

“For her, see if she’ll eat.”  He handed the bowl to Cass, who was sitting by the mare’s head, gently stroking the soft fur by her eye.  “If she won’t we could try to feed her through a tube, if we can get it down her throat.”  Dean suggested; grabbing a course rag (what he wouldn’t give for a horse brush right now) he begun to wipe the mud from her body.  As he worked, the deep brown mud gave way to a brilliant ebony black coat, which covered her entire body save for one of her ankles; which was a bright milky white.

“Look at that, black as can be,”  he murmured with a small smile, glancing at Cass.  He was ignoring him, trying to coax the horse into eating some of the oats. 

 Besides the sores that riddled her legs and underside from the time stuck in her mud, her ankle had been sprained.  Cass quickly healed the wounds before Dean could mention it, and he knew that alone was probably the biggest factor in her survival now.   Cass looked pretty drained, but he was whispering softly to the mare,  “Come on Medruveh, you must eat.” 

“Medruveh?  What does that mean?”  Dean asked, surprised that there was something in Enochian he still didn’t know. 

“It’s the characters for Ebony, in a more ancient tongue,”  Cass replied, smiling as the horse took a bite of the oats. 

“Ancient tongue; you never told me there was an older version of Enochian,”  Dean felt a pang of something, hurt maybe? rush through him. 

“It never got brought up,”  Cass replied shortly.  They sat in silence for awhile until Ebony finished her dinner. 

“It’s getting pretty cold in here; I brought plenty of blankets for her.  Why don’t we go in for the night?”  Dean suggested after a little while. 

“I think I’ll stay with her tonight,”  Cass spoke quietly, avoiding Deans gaze.  He had been doing that for what seemed like forever; why in the world wouldn’t he look him in the eyes? 

“If you get sick staying out here I’m not gonna take care of you,”  Dean said.  It was meant as a joke, but it came out all too serious.

“That’s fine, I can take care of myself anyway,”  Cass retorted as his still mud caked wings rustled in annoyance. 

“Fine then.”  Dean stood up and turned to leave, but found he couldn’t do it.  His patience had run out.  He spun around and raised his voice. “Alright, what the Hell is going on with you?” 

“What are you talking about?”  Cass asked, his eyes still fixed on the mare.

“You know damn well what.  Why won’t you look at me for starters; I don’t think I’ve even seen your eyes for a month now.  You’re constantly acting like I’m a thorn in your side these days, always trying to brush me off, find some excuse to get away from me; what did I do wrong?” 

“I’m not treating you like you’re a thorn Dean, I’ve just been thinking a lot, that’s all.” 

“Thinking; about what?  That you made a mistake? You wishing that you could still be back with your brother on your floating mountain?  That if you hadn’t met me you’d still be soaring through the skies, totally free?  Well I’m sorry that I’m such a disappointment for you; I know that I can never compare to that okay?”

Cas shook his head once. “Dean, stop; it’s not that and you know it.  If I had the chance to do it all over again I would still pick you over everything.”

“Then what is it!?”  Dean asked, his voice coming out way more desperate than he intended it to.  “I miss you Cass.  This whole winter, it’s like you aren’t even here and it hurts.”

Cass fell silent, hanging his head a bit.

“Can you please just look at me at least?”  Dean’s voice broke a bit and he had to choke back the tears that were threatening to overwhelm him. 

The air was thick with tension as they both waited.  “It’s you,”  Cass finally muttered, Dean almost didn’t hear it. 

“What?” 

“You’re in every dream I have.  You’re hurting me, telling me how hideous I am and that no one could ever love me.  Every time I close my eyes that’s what I see Dean, you.  I get enough of it when I’m asleep, I can’t see you when I’m awake as well; it hurts too much.” 

Dean stared at him in tense silence.  Out of everything he could’ve said he hadn’t expected that.  “Cass?”  He spoke softly, moving to kneel down by his Irvan, but Cass stopped him. 

“Don’t; just-I know that’s not really you in my dreams, but lately it just feels so real.  I need to figure this out, but I don’t think you can help with this.” 

“Then what will?”  Dean asked, not knowing what else to say.  “We gotta get you past this somehow.” 

“I know,”  Cass whispered.  He turned and  looked Dean in the eyes for the first time in almost a month.  “I do love you Dean, and I’m sorry I’ve been such a burden.  I know I need to share everything with you; I think my recent nightmares have been partly my fault, because in me holding back from you it has made you more distant as well.” 

Dean nodded, gazing down at the now slumbering mare, and an idea struck him.  “Hey, you ever ridden a horse?”  he asked.

Cass gave him his confused squinty eyes, tilting his head slightly and making a big grin break out across Dean’s face.  _Gad I missed that_ _puppy dog face._  

“I didn’t know that people rode them,”  Cass replied.

 “Yea it’s kind of a thing that we humans like to do.”  He smiled again.   “You know Ebony’s friend is still outside.  Why don’t I teach you how to ride a horse when she gets better?  She can be yours, and the other one can be mine.” 

Cass stared at him uncertainly.  “It doesn’t hurt the horse, does it?” 

“Would I mention it if it would?  You’ll love it, I promise.” 

“Well…okay, whatever you say.”  Cass nodded. 

“Good; now let’s go to bed?”  It was phrased as a question.  After another glance at Ebony Cass nodded.  _This might be exactly what he needs to get his mind off of things,_  Dean thought as they tucked Ebony in and headed towards the house.  He noticed the brown horse still standing a little ways off, munching on some grass, and smiled.  “You gonna name that one to?”  he asked, motioning towards the brown horse.

“Why don’t you; I’ve already claimed Ebony after all,”  Cass suggested with a small smile. 

“Oh okay.  I’ll name him…..Chuck.” 

Cass snorted.  “What kind of name is that?” 

“Hey, I thought it was a good name for a horse!”  Dean responded, acting like he was offended.

Cass rolled his eyes.  “Whatever, Naunged.” 

Dean grinned; he had missed this so much.  Everything would be fine; it was just going to take a while, he was sure of it.


	24. Horsing around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean teaches Cass how to break in a wild horse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm sorry this is a day late. Life is crazy and I've been so out of it, but here it is!

“Told you we could save her,”  Cass said as they watched Ebony and Chuck grazed peacefully together in the makeshift enclosure they had put up.  It had been almost two weeks, and Ebony looked as good as new; her long flowing tail swishing happily as she munched on the long grass. 

“Rub it in why don’t you,”  Dean teased.  Cass looked into his bright green gaze and smiled, giving him a quick peck on the lips.  It was slow, but episodes of his nightmares were growing apart more and more, and he was relieved that he was finally able to love Dean fully again, as he had disappeared almost entirely from his nightmares.  “So are you ready to start taming a wild horse?”  Dean asked.

Cass glanced at him, eyes wide.  “Today?” 

Dean huffed a laugh.  “Yes GisgMed; Ebony is all healed up and the rain has finally decided to clear out for once.” 

“Oh uh, okay,”  Cass agreed, not even trying to hide how nervous he felt. 

“C’mon Cass, I bet you it only takes half an hour tops to warm Ebony up to you; she knows you saved her, you guys already have a connection; we’re just going to finish it,”  Dean spoke, leading him to the gate.

“I’ll show you what to do with Chuck, and then you can try on Ebony okay?” 

Cass nodded in agreement, thankful that he didn’t have to do anything quite yet.  After they had gotten Chuck into the circular paddock, Dean stood in the middle while Chuck nervously stood off to the side. 

“You’re gonna get trampled,”  Cass called, his heart racing at the thought, even though he knew how capable Dean was.   

“It’s fine Cass, I promise; I’ve done this a thousand times before.”  He gave him a reassuring smile and Cass relaxed a bit.  “So you need to keep your body behind his shoulder, then you just make him run.”  Dean explained, making a clicking noise as he gently tossed the rope he was holding towards Chuck’s butt. It didn’t land anywhere near him, but the horse immediately responded by snorting and trotting furiously around the pen.  “Make sure you stay behind their shoulder, or he’ll think he’s got to go the other way.”

Cass watched him admiringly as he worked with the horse with ease; he had definitely done this before.  He had no idea how he was going to be able to do what he was doing.

“Okay see how he’s lowering his head and licking his lips like that?”  Dean spoke after a solid half hour passed. “I’m gonna stop and see if he’ll approach me now.  If he does, that’s awesome, if he doesn’t we’ll just have to keep going.”  He stopped, dropped the rope, turned his shoulders at a sharper angle away, and waited. Chuck was just standing there staring at him, his ears pricked forward and body tense as could be. Dean winked at Cas as they waited, but Chuck stayed stationary.

 “And off we go again,”  Dean said and picked up his rope, then tossed it and sent the horse into a trot once more.  After almost an hour Chuck still wouldn’t approach him, so he finally gave it up for the day. 

“Is that normal, does it usually not work the first day?”  Cass asked as Dean let Chuck back into the pasture. 

“Eh, it depends on the horse.  This guy is pretty high strung and proud, so I’m not surprised.  Ebony seems a lot softer, so I’m sure you’ll be able to connect with her today.” 

Cass swallowed thickly; he had almost forgotten that he had to do what Dean just did.  They got Ebony into the paddock without much difficulty and Dean showed him where to stand.  “Now you saw what I did; remember, don’t step in front of her shoulder unless you’re changing directions,”  Dean instructed from outside the fence. 

He gazed at the black mare, whose attention was not on him, but the brown horse in the pasture.  Taking a deep breath he clicked his tongue and swung the rope, getting her attention and sending her into a nice slow trot.  He did accidently step ahead of her a few times, making both of them fumble a bit, but for the most part he actually found it to be pretty enjoyable.  He found himself admiring the beauty of her shiny black coat, the way her muscles rippled with every powerfully move she made, and the way her long black tail and mane flowed out behind her like a banner.  When she started to show the signs Dean mentioned, he stopped and dropped his rope. Before he could turn, and to his utter astonishment, she walked right up to him and nuzzled her nose in his hand. 

“Na Ged, MedruVeh,”  He murmured, stroking the horse’s neck softly and gazing into her deep brown eyes.  “Thank you for helping me.”  He spoke in Enochian, and in response she huffed a bit into his hand. 

“See, told you, she already loves you,”  Dean grinned as they let her back out and headed towards the cabin.  Cass smiled warmly.

 “Too bad I’m taken already.”  For the first time in forever, he felt a deep burning lust for the man beside him and before he knew it he was grabbing his Irvan and pulling him into a deep passionate kiss.  Dean made a surprised noise but quickly recovered, parting his lips slightly so Cass could lick into his mouth.  Just as he had done when they had first kissed, he wrapped his wings around the both of them, blocking the world out and making their own little space.

 He felt himself getting hard and grabbed Deans hips, grinding against him a bit and drawing a small whine from the other man.  He smiled into the kiss, only to let out a gasp of his own as Deans hands found their way to his wings, gently massaging the feathers closest to his back.

“That’s cheating.”  He murmured. 

“What can I say, I like to play dirty.”  Dean growled, making Cass’s need ten times worse, and he hastily pulled him towards the cabin, both of them giggling like idiots.


	25. A Visit And A Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re not hiding anything? Dean checked.
> 
> No Irvan. Cass replied. When they came, almost at the same time; it wasn’t like falling, crashing or like an explosion. It was more like flying, both of them locked around one another, holding each other up and together; and at that moment they both knew that they were going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I'M SO SORRY! You probably thought I had died. Not to worry, if that were to happen, I'd have my trusted friends share the rest with you LOL. To make it up to you, here's a both fluffy and smutty long chapter for you. ;) Hold on to your butts, cause it's awesome.

The first thing Cass noticed when he awoke the next morning was how hopelessly entangled with his Irvan he was.  His limbs and wings were so mixed with Deans arms and legs that for one second he wasn’t sure where he ended and Dean began. 

The second thing he noticed was that the rising sun was shining right into his eyes.  He squinted around for a second before his gaze fell on Dean’s still slumbering face and lay his head back down on his Irvans chest with a contented sigh.  He wondered why this felt so good, and then realized that it had been about six months since he had woken up like this; after a beautiful night with his Irvan and no nightmare interruptions to speak of.   His eyes swept over Deans face once again, admiring the perfect sculpture of his cheeks and chin, a five o clock shadow making his skin a bit scruffy.  His mouth hung open slightly and he could feel his light snores vibrating through his chest. 

“I’m sorry I’ve been so distant Irvan.”  Cass whispered.  “I’m not going to let anything stop me from living a happy life with you, not anymore; I promise.”  As he reached up to gently kiss Dean on the cheek his thigh rubbed up against Deans cock, pulling an intake of breath from his Irvan and giving Cass an idea.  He smiled impishly as he slowly ground his thigh up against Dean a few more times, biting at one of his nipples simultaneously.  One of his hands was pretty much pinned to Deans butt cheek, so he started massaging him, carefully untangling his other hand so he could stroke it through Deans spiky bed head. 

Dean moaned softly in his sleep and Cass wondered what wonderful dreams he was making for him; judging by the fact that his cock was already half hard, they must be pretty amazing fantasies.  Scooting over to the side a bit so he wasn’t directly on top of Dean, he let the length of his left wing caress Deans entire body as he kissed his neck, sucking light bruises into his skin. 

Wondering just how far he could go before Dean woke up; he removed his left hand from Deans chest and reached down to stroke his now firm dick.  He tapped at the edges of Deans mind, feeding all sorts of dirty thoughts to him in Enochian, because he knew how much Dean loved it when he spoke in Enochian during sex.  After a minute that seemed to pull Dean from his sleep, those beautifully perfect emerald green eyes blinking open to meet his. 

“Ged Medon Irvan.”  Cass whispered, sweeping his wing across Deans body once more and halting his hands. 

“Cass.”  Dean spoke in a deep gravelly voice.  “Where you trying to seduce me in my sleep?” 

“Was it working?”  Cass replied with a smirk.

“Mmmm, maybe, maybe not.” 

“Oh really, I’ll just have to up my game then, won’t I?”  Cass growled, untangling himself the rest of the way.  Flaring his wings out to their full length, which was still impressive even though they weren’t grown out fully, he peered down at Dean with an almost authoritative air, raising his left eyebrow a bit as if unimpressed.  He spoke in Enochian, knowing Dean would understand because of their bond.  “If you are polite, churl (medieval word meaning “peasent like”, pretty much calling him his peasent), I’ll give you what I KNOW you want.”  His heart swelled a bit with pride when he saw Dean practically fall apart beneath him, his eyes dilating and his breath quickening. 

“And what exactly do I w-want?”  Dean managed after a second, Cass could see he was trying to restrain himself from just jumping up and kissing him into oblivion, just so he could play along. 

“Oh, well if you don’t want to tell me what you want then I’ll just go tend to the horses.”  Cass spoke with a smirk, starting to climb off the bed. 

“Woa, come back here and finish what you started you doxy (medieval word meaning a “promiscuous woman”, pretty much calling him a bitch).”  Dean teased, grabbing him and pushing him gently into their straw mattress so he was now the one on top, straddling Cass. 

_“Dean, I didn’t have any nightmares last night.”_ Cass thought to Dean with a smile.  _“It’s the first time since, well, since I can remember.”_   In response Dean smashed their lips together and kissed him till he couldn’t think straight. 

_“That’s wonderful Cass.”_ Dean thought to him as they kissed.  Just then there was a knock at the door, making them both jump and sending Cass’s knee upward and into Deans balls, colliding with them hard.

“FUCK.”  Dean yelled, crumpling into a ball on the bed and holding his privates.

“Shit, I’m so so sorry Dean, I didn’t mean to- it was just a natural reaction, are you okay!?”  Cass spoke in concern, sitting up on his knees. 

“Yea, m-fine, don’t worry about me.”  Deans voice was muffled, his face buried in the sheets. 

“Are you guys alright in there?”  A familiar voice called from outside.  Cass sent a message in his head to Gabriel assuring him that they were fine and that he’d be there in a few minutes and climbed out of bed to get dressed.

“Dammit, go to the door and tell your brother to get lost!  Like seriously, he has to show up this morning of all times!”  Dean grumbled, still laying crumpled on the bed and glaring at Cass as he pulled on his pants. 

Cass just smiled at him and shrugged. 

“You owe me you know, you started this and you’re gonna have to finish it.”  Dean spoke, sitting up and wincing a bit.  “Gad you have a sharp knee.” 

“Fam Medon Irvan.”  Cass apologized again with a sympathetic look.  “You can stay in here and rest if you need to; he’s my brother after all, not yours.  I’ll just tell him that you aren’t feeling well.” 

Dean climbed off of the bed and strode to him, pushing him up against the wall and kissing him deeply once again, rubbing at his wings hard and making Castiels whole body spasm with pleasure.  “D-Dean.”  Cass murmured, breaking away from the kiss.  “I told Gabriel I’d only be a few minutes, what are you-ahh!”  He was forcibly cut off as Dean mercilessly rubbed at the nubs in his wings, it was all he could do to hold himself together as Dean actually bit him on the neck, just enough for it to pinch.  He knew there was going to be a marvelous hickey there for awhile. 

Then Deans thigh was rubbing against his groin hard in time with his hands on his wings and it was all he could do to not cry out in ecstasy, throwing his head back and panting heavily.  It didn’t take long for him to reach his peak, and right before he spilled over into his orgasm Dean stepped away, nearly causing him to fall forward into his Irvan.  He stood there shaking and panting, glaring at Dean, who now had a smug look on his face as he started to pull his pants on. 

“What the Hell was that for; you can’t just do something like that and walk away!”  Cass almost yelled in anger. 

“I was just getting some revenge, that’s all.”  Dean smirked as there was another knock on the door. 

“It’s been a lot longer than a minute Cassie, should I come back or what?”  Gabriel asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

“N-no, we’ll be right out; almost ready.”  Cass called, not taking his eyes from Dean as he pulled on his shirt.  “You’re going to pay for that.”  He growled, shrugging his own shirt on.

Dean chuckled.  “I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

***

After they had collected themselves enough to have a civilized conversation they let Gabe in and had lunch.  He had brought some food with him as well, which they gladly accepted.  They told him about Ebony and Chuck and he told them some of what was happening back home.  After awhile though Dean couldn’t help it anymore and asked what he had wanted to from the first time he got there.

“Have you by any chance seen Sam at all?”  He asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.  He felt a calming presence in his mind as Cass sent some comfort to him; Cass knew how worried he’d been all winter about his brother.  That had been the hardest thing about his banishment after all, not being able to be there for Sammy or watch him grow.

At that Gabe actually chuckled a bit.  “Yea, I’ve seen him.” 

“Really!?  How is he doing, is he okay, is dad being good to him?”  Dean asked eagerly; he hadn’t expected him to answer in the affirmative.  He felt Cass tense beside him.

“Gabriel, you haven’t been seeing him, have you?”  His voice was dripping with concern.

Gabriel looked down at the ground.  “Not to worry brother, I only talked to him once.  It wasn’t long after you two had left actually.  I found him wandering around dangerously close to the mountains, so I confronted him about it.” 

“You know that he’s smitten with you then, don’t you?”  Dean couldn’t help but say. 

“Of course I do, I’m not an idiot.  He said he wanted to be friends, so I reminded him of what happened when you guys tried to be ‘friends’.”  He continued to stare at the ground as he spoke, like it was a difficult topic to talk about. 

“And what did he say?”  Dean asked. 

“Well, I’m really fond of the little moose okay?  I didn’t like the look he got when I told him that we couldn’t see each other again, so I made him a different offer.  I said that if we still felt the same way when he was older that maybe we could come join you guys; yes I probably should’ve asked permission but you’re family so I don’t have to anyway.  But no, we won’t be seeing each other in secret or anything; we’ve seen how that turns out.”

“So you haven’t seen him since then?”  Dean asked, a bit crestfallen. 

“I told you I only _talked_ to him once; not that I only _saw_ him once.  I’ve flown over to the village a few times to check on the guy; he seems to be doing fine, I don’t think you have anything to worry about Dean.”  He gave him a reassuring smile. 

They spent the afternoon together, Cass showed him how he could ride Ebony, much to Gabriels astonishment.  They tried to get him on the horse as well but he wouldn’t do it.  As Gabe was getting ready to leave after dinner, Dean suddenly got an idea. 

“Before you go, I have something to take with you.”  He said, rushing into the house and grabbing a piece of folded up parchment from the dresser in their room. 

“What’s this?”  Gabe asked, taking the paper from him and looking at it curiously. 

“Don’t read it, I’ll kill you if you do.  It’s a letter for Sammy.  Could you just leave it where you know he’ll find it, if that’s not too much to ask?” 

“Yea, I think that could be arranged.”  Gabriel nodded with a smile. 

He thanked him and after Cass said his goodbyes, it was just the two of them once again. 

“What did that letter say; I didn’t even know you had written anything.”  Cass asked as they were getting ready for bed that night. 

“I don’t really know why I wrote it.  Just a letter telling him about what’s been going on here and asking about him and how he’s doing; I think I wrote it more for my own peace of mind than anything, but it will be really nice knowing he’ll be able to read it.”   As he spoke he could feel his chest tightening and his throat constricting, and he sat on the edge of the bed trying to get a hold of himself before Cass noticed; no such luck.  Cass sat down by him and wrapped him in a wing, kissing him lightly on the temple. 

“I’m sorry Dean; I know you miss him terribly.”  He murmured, and before Dean could stop it, he was leaning into Cass, crying like a child.  He felt Cass pushing calm emotions softly into his mind and latched on to them like a lifeline.  He had no idea where this fit had come from but he couldn’t stop crying all of the sudden. 

“He’s my responsibility; I’m supposed to be there for him, keep him safe.” 

“I know Dean, I know.”  Cass murmured, rocking him back and forth gently and enclosing them both with his wings.  “Gabriel will watch over him; I promise.  I know it’s not the same, but rest easy knowing that Sam is safe.”  He felt the light pressure of Cass’s lips on his head and, reaching up, captured Cass’s bottom lip in between his teeth. 

Cass’s hands that had been gently rubbing him on the back started making their way downward, massaging in small circles as they went. 

The best way for Dean to deal with his emotions was shifting his focus to someone else, and so that’s what he did.  He concentrated on taking care of and pleasing the man in front of him.  Grabbing Cass around his backside, he lifted him up so Cass’s legs were wrapped around his middle, and carried him to the bedroom, bumping into the doorframe once because he couldn’t see over Castiels wings. 

“Sorry.”  He muttered, but Cass just chuckled.  They undressed in what must have been record time and then Cass had Dean up against the wall, just as he had been before Gabriels arrival. 

_I told you you’d be punished for earlier_. Dean heard Cass’s voice in his head, making his whole body shudder and causing goosbumps to rise on his arms.  Cass was currently busy sucking at his adams apple, which is why he had spoke to him through his mind. 

“Cass.”  He ground out, his untouched dick starting to throb from neglect.  

_Pagisgde Naunged_ , _pagisde.  Van Gonur get medvan famdrux malsna._ (Patience hatchling, patience.  You will get yours soon enough.) 

Dean threw back his head as Cass’s tongue and hands worked their way down slowly, agonizing slowly, past each nipple, his stomach, then thighs; skipping his throbbing cock all together and making him growl.  He felt Cass smile against his inner thigh and knew he was enjoying this way too much.  Using his nails, Cass ran them lightly up and down Dean’s bare legs, leaving a tickling, tingling sensation wherever they went.  Down to the bottom of his feet, then up past his hips, then over his ass and finally over his erection, dripping with pre-come by now. 

Dean threaded his hands through Cass’s hair and clenched hard as Cass took the tip of his cock in his mouth.  He gasped as Cass almost bit him with his sharp teeth, but just not enough to hurt as he swirled his tongue around his head.

F-Fuck Cass.”  He muttered, still grasping at Cass’s hair. 

Then he started bobbing his head, taking more of Dean with each thrust and Dean had to concentrate so that he didn’t lose it right then and there. 

Through their bond Dean ordered Cass to stop right before he tipped over the edge, not wanting it to be over quite yet. 

_Your turn._ He thought, pulling Cass to his feet and pushing him towards the bed.  _Going to make you feel so good._

“Turn.”  He spoke aloud, motioning for Cass to lay on his stomach.  Cass gave him a quizzical look before obeying.  Straddling his back, he started to massage the outside of Cass’s wings, from his back to the tips.  He concentrated on their bond and smiled as he felt the weight of wings on his back, searching out the muscles that were the most tense and working them out gently but firmly. 

“Mmmm, Dean Imma fall asleep if you keep that up…”  He heard Cass mutter under his breath. 

_Not yet._ He thought to his Irvan as he reached his hands under to the inside of the wings, touching and caressing all the right spots and making Cass moan loud and long.  Using the oil from the glands in Cass’s allule feathers, he reached down and lubed himself up a bit, then nestled his cock in between Cass’s ass cheeks; then went back to massaging the inside of his wings as he started to pump himself a bit. 

After a minute, when they were both panting, he stopped.  _Turn._   He again thought, and Cass turned over to his back.  With an oil slicked thumb, Dean reached down, sliding it across and down Cass’s throbbing cock to his balls, which he massaged for only a second before moving beneath them, where he pushed and prodded until Cass was practically whining for more. 

_You like that churl?_   He thought teasingly; pushing almost hard enough to hurt, almost.  All he got was a whine from his Irvan.  He almost thought he felt something else, but figured he must have imagined it.  Re slicking his thumb, he continued his course downwards until he reached Cass’s puckered hole, where he pushed gently.  It didn’t take long for him to prep Cass, and he was glad because he was ready to be inside his Irvan right now.  He was growing as impatient as the Valkarie beneath him.

Lining up himself with Cass’s hole, he eagerly pushed in, bottoming out almost right away.  He almost pulled out when Cass cried out, intense fear all the sudden ripping through there connection. 

“You okay!?”  He asked in alarm.  When he didn’t answer immediately Dean went to pull out, but Cass stopped him. 

“No, don’t-I’m okay.  I’m, I’m fine; you didn’t hurt me.”  Cass spoke, although his eyes were closed and his face scrunched up like he was in pain.

“Uh, I don’t believe you?”  Dean spoke, uncertain of what to do at this point.  His dick was throbbing and his heart was pounding and all he wanted to do was fuck Cass like no tomorrow, but he couldn’t if he thought something was wrong with him.  Cass sent soothing waves to him through the bond, so Dean hesitantly started to pull out, then back in; thrusting with a slow steady rhythm.  After a second though an image flashed across him mind.  He was being pressed against cold hard rock, there were shouts everywhere, so much pain- then it was pushed from his mind, almost like Cass was trying to hide it from him. 

He stopped, pulling out and gathering Cass in his arms so Cass was sitting on his lap, legs on either side of Deans waist.  He gently pried Cass’s hands from where they were covering his face and found that his cheeks were littered with tears. 

“Why were you trying to hide that from me?”  He murmured, trying not to be angry. 

“You were so sad, I was just trying to cheer you up.  The last thing you needed was a flash back like that.”  Cass sniffled, looking anywhere but at Dean. 

_I’m such an idiot._   Dean thought to himself, making sure that Cass couldn’t hear it.  “Cass, please don’t hide things like that from me ever again; I don’t want to hurt you any more than you already have been.”  He spoke, tucking his finger under Cass’s chin and lifting gently so he could look into those perfect eyes of his.  Cass nodded.

_Okay, I’m sorry Dean._   He heard and Dean smiled softly, pressing a chaste kiss to Cass’s forehead. 

_Let’s stop, okay?  We can just snuggle if you want._   But Cass shook his head.

_No, I want to finish; I need to finish.”_

Dean sighed, rubbing small circles into Cass’s upper arms.  “You’re sure?”  he asked out loud, looking Cass in the eye. 

“Yes.  Just like this though.”  He spoke, leaning into Dean so that their erections rubbed against each other. 

Dean inhaled sharply; he had almost forgotten about his dick and how much it was throbbing.  He gently reached down and took both of them in his hands, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him.  Cass leaned his forehead against his, smiling softly; gazing back at him with loving eyes. 

_You’re not hiding anything?_   Dean checked.

_No Irvan_.  Cass replied.  When they came, almost at the same time; it wasn’t like falling, crashing or like an explosion.  It was more like flying, both of them locked around one another, holding each other up and together; and at that moment they both knew that they were going to be okay.


	26. The Real End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam makes a surprise visit; then Dean and Cass go riding, and something very surprising happens....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, all that's left is the Happily Ever After guys....man this is pretty bittersweet for me. :') I want to thank you all for you're awesome comments and support, especially CaffieneandChaos, would never have done it without you. <3 and all you guys who read this lovely little story. Thank you all, love you guys so much; the Spn family is the best! "Mwah!"

_5 years later……_

Dean wiped at his forehead with a dirty arm, and looked over the huge garden he had just planted with a sense of satisfaction.  Well, the danger of frost wasn’t quite over yet, so he had only planted garlic, onions and beans, the rest would come later.  They had been doing a garden for a few years now and it seemed to do fairly well in their location, just as long as they put up defenses against birds, raccoons and deer. 

Leaving his work, he trekked over to the apple orchard that they had found and taken over a few years back as well. There were a bunch of overgrown apple trees and they had labored to clean them up, while also planting a few more of their own, which were still way too little to bear any fruit.

 He found Cass at the top of one of the trees, pruning some branches and had to smile at how beautiful his Irvan was with his shiny black wings folded around him like a graceful hawk.  Dean couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of their positions, of when he had met Cass all those years ago, stuck in his trap.

“Hey Feathers, you need help out of that tree?”  he called with an impish grin.

Cass stopped what he was doing and peered down at him through the bare branches.  “Drux Gisgna Naunged, Gonvan Ged gisg.” (No thanks hatchling, I’ve got it.) 

Dean felt a twinge of anxiety as Cass jumped, letting his wings carry him safely to the ground.

_I wish you wouldn’t do things like that, you’re going to hurt yourself again,_ he thought to Cass as he embraced him, giving him a quick peck on the lips. 

Castiel looked at him apologetically, but didn’t respond; just reached up and wiped his palm across Dean’s forehead. 

“You’re filthy,”  Cass spoke with a soft smile, showing Dean the dirt on his hand. 

“Well, maybe we should go wash then,”  Dean replied in a suggestive voice, pulling Cass against him.

Cass opened his mouth to reply but stopped, looking past Dean in surprise. 

“What?”  Dean asked, looking over his shoulder.  His breath caught in his throat as he saw none other than his little brother over by the house. 

“Raincheck on that bath,”  he said excitedly, which made Cass laugh.

 “Hey Sammy!”  Dean  called as he took off running across the open expanse of grass towards the house. 

“Dean!”  Sam exclaimed as Dean reached him after a moment, out of breath.  They embraced and Dean felt like his heart was going to burst with joy.  The last time Sam had visited was over a year ago. Gabe had given Sam Dean’s letter, and a few months after had shown up out of the blue.  Ever since he had tried to come visit at least twice a year. 

“Wait a second, something’s not right,”  Dean said, holding Sam at arm’s length by the shoulders.  He reached up and drew a line between the top of his head and his brother a few times; just to make sure he hadn’t been imagining it. 

“Shit, you’re taller than me!.  That is just wrong!”

Sam laughed.  “I’m 6’3” now, sorry Dean.” 

“Shaddup. You are so not sorry, you little dork,”  Dean replied, pushing his brother playfully as Cas caught up to them.

“Sam, it’s so good to see you!”  Cass exclaimed, pulling Sam in for a tight hug, which Sam returned.

“You too Cass, you’re looking well!” 

“You as well, I swear you grow a few more feet every time I see you.”  Cass chuckled.

“Yea, Dean’s butthurt cause I’m taller than him now.” 

“Hey, at least I don’t have Rapunzel.  What the hell man, you lose track of all sharp items in your life?”  Dean spoke.

“Hey, I like it, looks helluva lot more manly than you do.”  Sam said, brushing his bangs out of his face.

“Alright, that’s it, let’s go right here!”  Dean replied, practically jumping on his brother.  They spent a few heated minutes wrestling, but Dean found himself on the bottom pretty quickly.

“Dammit Sammy, it’s just cause I’m a little out of practice that’s all.”  He grumbled as Sam helped him to his feet. 

“Sure, whatever you have to tell yourself.” 

Dean narrowed his eyes, though he still felt playful. “Jerk.”

“Bitch.” 

Cass cut in then. “Alright Dean, Sam’s probably hungry, don’t you think we should get him something to eat instead of beating him up?”  =

“At least someone has some manners around here,”  Sam teased as all three of them headed inside.

“So how are things back at the village?” Dean said when they were all situated in the kitchen, munching on some dried meat and fruit.  “I want you to tell me everything you’ve been doing this past year.” 

“Everything huh; that could take some time,”  Sam shook his head.  “Well, you’ll probably want to know that Dad’s doing well, hasn’t changed at all.  Oh, and get this, you know how he used to rant on me all the time for all the widdling I would do?  Well guess who’s started to make quite a bit of profit?” 

“Seriously; you carve for a living?”  Dean laughed.   “It’s perfect, you fit the part perfectly.” 

“Well you know I also build practical stuff too Dean; not just figurines.  I’ve built quite a few tables and chairs over the course of this year, and even a crib for the Staffs!” 

“So he finally got married then; they sure didn’t wait long to start a family.”  Dean grinned. 

“And I have something for you; well, kind of for the both of you actually.  Consider it a very late wedding gift.”  Sam said before  reaching into his bag and pulling out a small figurine.

 

[ ](https://www.houzz.com/product/44040887-protective-angel-figurine-traditional-decorative-objects-and-figurines)

[Browse more decorative objects and figurines on Houzz](https://www.houzz.com/photos/decorative-objects)

 

 Dean’s breath caught as he took the carving.  It looked almost exactly like Cass, carved out of milky white birch wood.  The figure was sitting down, one leg up and the other tucked under, one of his arms resting on his knee and his wings folded neatly around himself. 

“Is that…me?”  Cass asked, almost reverently taking the figure from Dean to examine it.

“Well, it’s supposed to be.  It would probably be a lot better if I had you there for reference while I was doing it, but I thought it turned out pretty well.”  Sam replied.

“Pretty well; it’s amazing Sammy,”  Dean exclaimed, dragging his eyes away from the figure to smile at his brother, who blushed.

“I’m glad you guys like it,”  he laughed. 

“Um, Sam; may I ask you something?”  Cass asked suddenly.  “Have you by chance seen Gabriel?  He hasn’t visited for months now, and he usually shows up at least every month.” 

“Well, I can’t say I’ve really seen him that much, but I talk to him every week at least; with letters,”  Sam replied.  “He’s been really busy, apparently Lucifer and Metatron are really getting on his nerves.”  Sam stopped here, clearing his throat.  “Actually, that brings me to something else I wanted to talk about.” 

Dean shared a glance with Cass.  They didn’t even have to speak through their bond to know what he was going to say.

“We’ve really been thinking about it, and since we don’t really get to actually hang out physically of course we don’t know really how we feel about each other.  He really wants to leave the island, and I really really want to be with him, so we were kinda thinkin maybe I would ask if we could, in the near future anyway, not right away..”

“Sam, of course you two are welcome to come live with us,”  Cass interrupted before Dean could. 

“It gets pretty lonely with just us two and the horses you know,”  Dean added. He frowned at Cass then. “Man, I sound like some old crotchety grandpa.”  The other two laughed.   

“I’ll let him know right away, and we’ll keep in touch then!”  Sam replied excitedly.  “I’ve wanted to strike out on my own so bad, and not to sound rude, but you guys could use some help with the furniture around here; it’s kinda sad.” 

“Hey, I thought I did really well!”  Dean exclaimed, pretending to be offended. 

“Well yea, what you made is usable, but it’s pretty ugly,” Sam teased.

“Oh, so what you’re saying is that it’s not girly enough, right.”  Dean smirked.  Sam just rolled his eyes.

\--------

Sam stayed for a few days, helping them finish pruning the orchard and just enjoying each other’s company. 

The morning Sam left, Dean and Cass stood on the front porch of their little home to see him off.  As Dean watched his little brother disappear into the woods he had to resist the urge to follow him, to make sure that he would make it back home safely.  As if Cass read his mind (which he probably had) he spoke up.

“He’ll be fine Dean, he’s a strong man now. He takes after his older brother.” 

Dean smiled softly, looking down at the ground.  “Nah, he’s stronger than me.” 

They stood there in content silence for a minute before Cass spoke.

“Does it bother you Dean?” 

“Does what bother me? The fact that Sam is taller than me?  Hell yes it does.”  Dean replied.

“Not that…never mind, forget it.”  Cass spoke, waving it off.

“Does what bother me Cass?”  Dean pressed gently, seeing the concern in his Irvan’s eyes.

“It’s just something that Sam said a few days ago, that’s all; it’s not important, well unless it is…” 

“C’mon Cass, just tell me.  I promise I won’t be mad, whatever it is.” 

After a short pause Cass spoke up.  “Sam mentioned a family, the Satt’s I think was their name, who had gotten married.” 

“Yea, I knew Jeremy; what about them?”  Dean asked.

“Well, they’re going to have a baby.  You said they didn’t wait very long to start a family, and you looked so happy, and it just made me think.” 

To Dean’s alarm, there were tears glistening in Cass’s eyes. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?”  he asked as he slipped his arm around Cass’s waist, though he was completely confused at this point.

 “Does it bother you that we, um, that we can never have children?” 

_Ooooh._   He paused, thinking on it for a minute before responding.

“Well, of course it would be nice, yea.  But I also know that I wouldn’t be happy with anyone else but you.  And if that means not having kids, then it’s totally worth it for me.  You’re my one and only Cass, I love you more than anything, and the thought of not being with you hurts more than anything else.”  He squeezed Cass’s waist a bit.  “Does it bother you?”  he asked, returning the question.

Cass sniffled, wiping at his eyes.  “Well yes, but it’s kind of the same as what you said, it’s worth it to be with you.” 

“Hey, maybe one day we’ll find some poor little bastard to adopt huh?”  Dean chuckled.  “Kids aren’t totally out of the cards you know; there are ways.” 

Cass laughed, wiping his face again.  “Yea, I guess there is that.” 

“Hey, why don’t we go for a ride huh?  It’s been a little while, and I’m sure Chuck and Ebony would love the exercise.” 

Cass nodded gratefully. 

***

“Come on Dean, keep up with me!”  Cass called as he urged Ebony into a full out gallop. 

“No fair, you didn’t even give me a warning!”  Dean yelled. Chuck was barely behind Ebony, and he knew Chuck was faster.

 “Not my fault you’re so slow,”  Cass laughed.  In all the time they had spent together, it had never felt so much like home than it did now.  Cass only rarely had nightmares anymore, and Sam and Gabriel were now planning to come join them.  They had built a wonderful life here for themselves.

When he had Ebony going almost as fast as she could, still leaving Dean a bit behind them, he stood up and stretched his wings out to their full length, reveling in the feeling of the wind through his feathers.  His flight feathers had grown all the way back in by now, yet he still couldn’t fly.  He knew it was because they couldn’t hold him properly, but sometimes it still made him angry.  He had hurt himself more than once trying to get them to hold him up, which he knew was the cause for Dean’s concern when he jumped from places. But he had made peace now with the fact that the closest he would ever get to flying again would be on a horse.  

As he stretched out his wings he closed his eyes and imagined he was soaring through the open sky like he used to.  When he felt himself beginning to lift off of the saddle, he knew that he should fold his wings back in, but he couldn’t help it; maybe this time it would work.  Maybe this time. 

“Cass!”  Dean called as he flapped his wings and lifted into the air.  “You’re just gonna hurt yourself again!” Even so, he had to try. 

His heart beat painfully against his rib cage as he beat his wings furiously to stay air born, trying to get them to work together when they were both damaged in different ways.  Then, all at once something just clicked and he balanced out, in total control of his movements.  His eyes snapped open and he stared over his shoulder for a moment.

“D-Dean, I did it, I’m doing it!”  he yelled as he dropped the reigns and lifted himself to the tree line.  He looked down and saw Dean grinning from ear to ear, looking up at him. 

“Go for it Cass!” 

That was all the encouragement he needed, and he shot up towards the sky as fast as he could, Dean whooping and shouting from beneath him.  He knew that any moment one of his wings could fail him, and the higher he went the more likely the chance that the resulting fall could kill him, but he couldn’t get himself to care. 

He let out a shout of joy as he soared up, threading through the clouds and shouting blissfully to his Irvan below.  Finally in his favorite place again, finally free, able to live his life with the one he loved, this is where he wanted to be.

And they did, as they say, live happily ever after. 

The End 

**Author's Note:**

> please please PLEASE tell me what you think in the comments so I can have fuzzy feelings about my work! lol and again, I'll be posting every week or two times a week depending on chapter length. Hope you enjoyed it and again, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU! <3


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